The PenPal
by Jasmine-Now-Leaves
Summary: Hetty gives the team two week vacation, so Callen decides to visit an old friend. After finding out that Nell's plans fall though, he invites her along. What happens between the two after they arrive at their destination? And how will Callen's friend help them realise that they belong together? M rated chapter up under the title Their First Time.
1. Chapter 1

The PenPal

Ok, so I've hit a snag with my Callen Kitten story, namely waiting for season three to arrive on DVD. This popped into my head the other day and, well here it is. It is a Nellen story.

Disclaimer: NCIS Los Angeles is the creation of fellow Australian, Shane Brennen and I lay no claim to them.

Callen was reading a letter he had received a few days ago and thinking about Hetty's gift to them all of two weeks off. They had had several very hard cases back to back and the time off would be good for them. Sam was already planning a trip to Disney World with his family, Kensi was going to take the time and spend it with her mother and Deeks, he actually didn't know what the blonde man had planned. Same with Eric and Nell.

"Hey Deeks, you ready?" Eric called out suddenly as he came down the stairs.

"Yep, just got to drop this on Hetty's desk." Deeks stood and headed toward their boss's desk.

"What have you two got planned?" Callen asked as he put the letter away in the drawer. He got up and headed over to make some coffee.

"We are going to the surfing championships on South Beach. Nothing but sand, surf and really hot babes in bikinis on boards for the next two weeks." Yelled a very happy Deeks, punching the air and high fiving Eric as they left. Callen chuckled as he sat back down. He finished a report and left it on Hetty's desk a couple of hours later. As he was leaving, thinking he was the only one left, he noticed the lights on upstairs. He headed up to find Nell with her head in her hands and sobbing quietly.

He liked Nell the moment she had started here. Over the years he noticed that she would stand a little closer to him than say Deeks, Sam, even Eric. She even helped him look up something on several occasions and the looks they threw each other during briefings and across the room when the others weren't looking had him hoping that maybe she had feelings for him.

"Nell?" he asked before he got any closer.

Her head snapped up and she spun in his direction. "Oh, Agent Callen, I thought everyone had left for their holidays." She wiped the tears from her eyes and brushed back her hair, knowing that Callen had seen her crying but hoped that she didn't look too bad.

"They have, I just needed to finish a report and my flight doesn't leave until the morning." He sat against the desk near the door and noticed that the computer where she was had a video link up that had been disconnected at the other end. "What happened?"

Nell sighed, paused for a second then said "My family came down with something really nasty, they're all in hospital. They didn't want me to come home in case I got it. I tried to tell them I didn't care that there're family, but they said even if they got better by next week, they wouldn't be up to doing anything." She started to sniffle and roughly brushed at her nose as she hung it, avoiding Callen's gaze. "I really miss them. I was looking forward to seeing them."

Callen thought for a moment then before he could chicken out he said, "Then come with me."

"What?" She brought her head up and looked at him.

"Come with me." He said again. "Unless you really want to spend two weeks here."

"Where?"

"Australia. I've got some friends there and they've been asking me to see them for years. And with Hetty's 'no phone just a number' detail, this is the first time I can go. And as much fun as it would be on my own, I'd enjoy it more if you came with me. At least I'd know that you're having fun and not stuck here wondering if you can go home." Callen realised that this was probably the longest conversation he had had with Nell, non-work related, in a while. He was a little worried that he had put her in a position where she had to say yes. "If you want." Then he thought of something that might entice her a little more. And show her that he trusted her and liked her more than a colleague. "Also, you might learn something that even Hetty doesn't know about me. At least, I'm pretty sure she doesn't" he tipped his head to the side and looked up at the ceiling as he thought about the chances of her knowing.

Nell looked at Callen. She was trying to understand him. They had been subtly flirting for years, and she had noticed that he would come to her if he had something he wanted checked. Even on team outings, they would sit next opposite each other. Hopefully the others thought that there was nothing going on, but for her it was an opportunity to look into those ocean blue eyes. She could swim in them forever. Now here he was, wanting her to come with him. Everything she knew about Callen told her that he didn't do things like this on a whim.

"And what would that be?" she looked at him, head tilted to one side.

Callen heard the curiosity in her voice and took it as a yes. He took a step forward, leaned closer and said "I'll pick you up at five am. Don't forget you swimwear." As he went to leave he called over his shoulder "Don't worry about dresses, my friends have you covered!"

Looking at Callen's retreating back, Nell sat back in shock. He thought that she had said yes. Well, she kind of had when she asked what was it that Hetty didn't know. She suddenly realised that Callen wanted, like her, to know what this was between them, if it was anything. And this would be the best time. No office, no Sam, Kensi, Deeks or Hetty to interrupt them. No cases to worry about. Now was the perfect time. Only thing was, she had to repack her whole suitcase. She had planned on a trip home, where it was snowing. Australia was just about to head into summer. She hurried out of the office, shutting everything down and locking up, noticing that Callen's car was gone.

Callen tried to call his friends in Australia to let them know that he was brining Nell, but he could only get a voicemail. He left one, not knowing if they'd get it. Then he laid down on his bedroll and tried to get a couple of hours rest. He wondered if Nell would be waiting for him in the morning. He wanted to see if there was anything between them and with the time Hetty had given them off, it seemed like a good idea. He had planned on asking her when Hetty had first announced it, but then he heard her tell Kensi that she was thrilled about the time off to see her family. Callen knew that she was close to her family so he hadn't asked. He rolled over and closed his eyes.

It took all night for Nell to repack her bag. Without knowing where Callen was taking her, which was exciting in its self, she wanted to cover all bases. He had told her not to worry about dresses, so she packed a couple of simple floral skirts and blouses. She had noticed that Callen looked at her a little more when she wore them, especially the dark green one when she wore it with the white top. Four o'clock chimed on the clock in the living room and Nell hurried to have a shower and brush her teeth. She paused at the door to her apartment and realised that as unconventional as it was, she was essentially going on a two week 'date' with Callen. She giggled at the thought, locked the door behind her and headed down the stairs.

Callen's taxi pulled up outside Nell's apartment block at five to five. He was a little anxious that Nell would come. She hadn't exactly said yes, he took her tone as her answer. As he was wondering if he should go up and see if she was coming, the door opened and she walked out, pulling a red wheeled suitcase. He got out and helped her to get it into the trunk of the taxi.

Nell saw a bright blue carryall in the trunk as Callen helped her put her bag in. Well actually he held the lid open as she put it in, helping her when it got stuck. That's what she liked about him. He could see how independent she was and only helped her when she couldn't do something. Like reach the top shelf where Deeks would put the cups in the office kitchen. She looked at Callen and asked "That yours?"

"Yeah, pretty sure that customs would throw my kit bag out if I used it. This was a birthday present this year from the friends we're going to see." As he closed the lid he paused for moment and looked at her "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for inviting me."

The drive to the airport was uneventful. Once they had checked in; Callen making the reservation for Nell the night before, they headed toward the news stand.

Callen heard something like a stomach growling and looked toward Nell, noticing a blush creep up on her cheeks. "Nell?" yep, the blush got redder. "You hungry?"

"I'm good." Nell was trying to avoid looking at him, knowing full well that he had seen her cheeks. She turned away and went over to the counter to pay for a paperback to read on the flight. She could hear Callen coming up behind her.

"Did you have anything after lunch yesterday?" he reached over her to pay for her book and a couple of crossword books for himself.

"No, I had to repack my suitcase. Which took all night." She took the book that Callen held out to her and headed out of the shop.

"We still have a little over an hour til we have to board, I'll shout breakfast." And before she could protest, he steered her toward the food court.

"Really Callen, I'm ok. I'll just eat on the plane." She tried to stop, but Callen kept his hand in the small of her back and steered her in the direction. She didn't fight all that hard. She was hungry and his hand felt good on her back.

"Airplane food sucks, no matter the airline. Half way though, you'll thank me, trust me." He knew from first-hand experience what airline food was like. He always had a decent meal before embarking on a long flight, something Gibbs had instilled in him. Reaching the food court, he asked what she wanted.

"Pancakes." She hadn't had them in a while.

After they both had a pile of the soft fluffy cakes topped with whipped cream, maple syrup and in Nell's case, sprinkles, they found a table.

"Why sprinkles?" Callen watched as Nell tucked in to a pile of pancakes. He had had something before leaving to pick Nell up so his plate didn't have as many on it. Now he was fascinated at how a woman who probably weighed less than half his weight could put away so much. That and there were several sprinkles stuck to her cheeks, making it look like she had whiskers like a cat. He amended that to kitten. A very cute kitten.

"Huh?" Nell looked up from her plate at the man sitting opposite her.

"Why sprinkles?" He asked again, resisting the urge to brush them of her cheeks. Just. "You've got a few…" He wiped at his own cheeks.

Nell got the message and hurriedly brushed them off, feeling her cheeks heat up again. "Oh, my mom used to put them on when we were sick. She said they were her kisses because she couldn't kiss us." She dipped her head as she remembered they were sick and she wouldn't be able to see them.

"Cool!" He finished his plate, pretending not to notice the tears at the corners of her eyes. _She really misses them. Being so far away and not being able to tell them what she was really doing had to be hard. _He thought. He just had to make sure that she had a really good time while they were away.

They finished their meal in silence but as they got up to head to the gate, Callen thought about something. "Nell, did you tell your family that you wouldn't be in LA for the next fortnight?"

"Oh no, what if they've tried to call me? I turned my phone off when we got here." She hurriedly dug around her handbag, trying to find it.

"Nell, don't worry about it now, they've just called our flight."

"But what if they've tried to call, I have to …" she didn't get to finish the sentence as Callen's hands suddenly held her shoulders, stilling her movements.

"Nell, we can call them when we land. My friends won't mind waiting for a few minutes while you call your parents and let them know that you won't be alone for the next two weeks." He looked in her eyes and saw her calm down. He took his hands from her shoulders and placed one on her back, steering her toward the gate. It felt right there.

Nell calmed down when he placed his hands on her shoulders. She knew that she would be able to call them later, but hearing Callen say it meant that it would happen. When Callen said something, it was certain to happen. He had that way about him. She nodded and let Callen steer her toward the gate. His hand felt just right there. She hoped that he didn't feel the tingle that rang up her spine at the touch. Or maybe she hoped that he did.

The take-off was uneventful, although Callen noticed that Nell's knuckles were white until they had left the tarmac and the plane stopped shuddering. He placed his hand gently over hers, as though resting it on the armrest and he felt some of the tension leave her. "Don't like flying?" He was really worried that he had pushed her into something that she really didn't want to do. She had showed no signs that she was afraid of flying until now.

"No?!" her answer was a little fast and sounded like she was scared.

"Then why the knuckles?" He rubbed his thumb along the side of her hand, feeling more of the tension leave her as he did.

"I just don't like the take-offs." She sounded a little more relaxed as the plane headed toward cruising altitude, the bumpy part of the trip over until they landed. The only time the plane would land was when they landed in Australia.

"Any reason why?" Callen looked over at her and saw that her eyes were starting to droop and her head nod. She had mentioned that she had repacked her bag all night, which meant that she hadn't slept at all in over 36 hours.

"Going that fast in a car is never a good idea, and a plane is just a really large car until it gets in the air." She was out when the last word left her mouth, her head dropping to her chest.

Callen chuckled and tilted her back against the chair as the seatbelt sign switched off as they hit cruising height. He stood up and got their books from the locker above his head. He wouldn't sleep for a while, so he started on the crossword books he got, placing Nell's paperback in the pocket in front of her.

After a while he noticed a little movement from Nell as her head moved to the side, only for her subconscious to bring it back to the centre of the chair. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before her subconsciousness no longer caught her before she hit her head, he gently tipped her head onto his shoulder. She didn't quiet reach it, being shorter than him, so he slouched down in his seat until she snuggled against his neck. He could smell the fruity shampoo she used. After some time, he felt his own eyes start to droop and noticed that he could no longer see the words on the page he was working on. Giving it up as a lost cause and knowing that there were no bad guys trying to kill him for the moment, he let his mind take him where it wanted and gave in to sleep. He rested his head against Nell's and closed his eyes, hoping that he could get at least two hours of shut eye.

Hope you like this so far. Please review and I will get back to Callen and Barry soon.


	2. The flight

So, this story is flying along. Not sure how many chapters it will be yet, but a few. So here's chapter two. Disclaimer, see chapter One.

* * *

He was woken several hours later by the air hostess as she pushed the food trolley in front of her. Her name badge read May. "Would you like some dinner, Sir?"

"Dinner?" Callen sat up as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I expect you and your companion are hungry. You both slept through lunch."

"We did?" Callen looked at his watch and was shocked to discover that he had somehow managed to sleep for a solid eight hours. He had never slept that long. In fact he didn't remember having any of the dreams that usually hit him after a few hours. "What is there?" A little more awake now, he noticed that Nell was still asleep. He lightly shook her until she woke.

"We have roast beef with steamed vegies or lasagne."

"Nell, you hungry?" Callen took a roast beef.

"Mmmh" she was still waking up but noticed that her head was on Callen's shoulder. She sat up suddenly as she realised that, adrenalin waking her up completely. "Um, what was that?" she couldn't believe she had fallen asleep on him.

"Dinner, roast beef or lasagne?" Callen asked again, smirking a little at the look of shock on her face as she woke up and realised that she had used him as a pillow.

"Lasagne, please." She was trying not to look at him right now, a little embarrassed. As Callen placed the tray in front of her and the hostess moved on she spoke again. "Thank you."

"That's alright. You were pretty out of it." Callen thought that she was talking about sleeping on his shoulder.

"Uh, I meant for breakfast, you're right, this doesn't look all that good." She picked at the vegies on the tray bit didn't touch the lasagne after taking a bit and finding that it was slightly cold in the middle.

"Oh. Just so you know Nell, you didn't fall asleep on my shoulder. You nearly hit you head a couple of times. I put on my shoulder so you wouldn't get hurt. I fell asleep shortly after you did and didn't wake up for eight hours." He sounded a little shocked at that fact.

"You don't sleep much?" Nell stole a bit of beef from his tray and after finding it more appealing, stole some more. She had heard the rumours that he only slept a handful of hours a night. If that.

"Not really, with all the foster homes I stayed at, if you slept too deeply, your stuff got stolen," he paused then continued "or worse. I once woke up with a pink dress super glued to me. Took a week for the glue to come off. I was six and hadn't been in the system long enough to know." He ducked his head at the giggling he could hear coming from Nell.

"I'm sorry!" Nell tried to stop the giggling, but at the sight of Callen's cheeks turning red, she started to laugh. She covered her mouth with her hands to stop the noise and managed to stop after a few moments. During which time, Callen had given up trying to stop Nell from stealing pieces of his meal and scooped half of it onto her tray.

"And if you tell anyone, well, I know where you live." He answered smugly, his trade mark smirk on his face.

Nell knew that she had been given a very rare insight into what made up G. Callen. As she ate her beef, still nicking some from Callen's tray, she realised that there was a high possibility that even Sam didn't know that story. He would have hinted at it last week during the case when they discovered that their suspects were cross-dressing. "I won't tell anyone, I promise." She said with sincerity, laying her hand on his and looking right into his cool blue eyes.

"Thanks Nell." Callen looked away from her and back at his tray. He didn't know why he had told her the story. Then he realised that it was because he trusted her. Sure he trusted Sam, but that was to watch his back, to stop him from doing something stupid, back him up in teasing Deeks. Not with personal things. There was only one other person who knew the story and she would never tell either.

The hostess came back for their trays and asked if they wanted to drink anything.

"Two bottles of water and two coffees please." Callen answered without thinking. "Sorry Nell, did you want something different?" He had notice her take a breath to say something.

"No, water and coffee sounds great." After the drinks had been delivered she turned to Callen and asked "In all the excitement, I never asked, what is it that Hetty doesn't know about you?"

Callen was about to say 'wait and see', then he thought better of it. He had almost begged her to come with him and after sharing the pink dress story, she deserved to know at least a little. "I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know that I even know anyone in Australia. And since this is the first time I've ever visited, it's a safe bet. At least until she looks at the emergency contact number I left."

"So you've never been too your friends place?" Callen shook his head. "They come to you?"

"Nope."

"Then, how do you know them?"

Now he said it, "Wait and see." With that he turned and started up the crossword again.

Nell wanted to know more about these mysterious friends of Callen's, but seeing him turn from her and concentrate on his book, she realised that Callen wanted it to be a surprise and that she wouldn't be getting anymore from him. She turned and saw that Callen had gotten her book from their bags, so she started to read.

Callen waited until Nell had started to read before he stopped pretending to concentrate on the crossword. It was a simple one that didn't take a lot of thought, which allowed his mind to wander. He slept eight hours straight. EIGHT HOURS! He still couldn't believe it.

Nothing had changed lately. Sure they were on a plane, but he had been on planes before, ones that were trying to avoid being shot out of the sky and he had been able to get sleep on them. In some cases more than the pilots, even Gibbs. No one was shooting or threatening them. He hadn't been that tired, had he? No that wasn't it. The only thing that had changed was that Nell had been on his shoulder, sleeping. Something about her settled him. He couldn't pin it but she had helped him get the best sleep he had had in his life. He felt like a new person, totally rested for the first time in a long time.

He turned his head slightly to look at the woman beside him, and then headed for the bathroom. His legs were getting a little cramped and he noticed a few other people moving around. "Hey Nell, you want to move around a little, we've still got another six hours before land."

"Yeah, at least we slept for half of it." she stood and they made their way down the aisle.

As they got several rows from their assigned seats, the plane shuddered, then dropped.

* * *

Aaaand that's all for this chapter. Will they make it? Who gets hurt? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter in The PenPal. Ok, I'm going to stop sounding like a show announcer now. Thanks to those who have reviewed the first chapter and are following the story.


	3. The Panic and Pen Pal

Author's Note: I hope this chapter is ok. For those readers who have a fear of flying, maybe skip this chapter. What I've described here is based on what I've watched on the TV show Air Crash Investigation and common sense. If there is anything wrong, entirely my fault.

Disclaimer See Chapter 1

* * *

As they got several rows from their assigned seats, the plane shuddered, then dropped for several seconds. Anything that wasn't strapped down ended up pinned to the ceiling until the plane levelled out, then crashed to the floor. Nell screamed as she flew to the ceiling until Callen's arms went around her and she buried her face into his chest. Then they dropped and she ended on top of him. As they stood, they could hear people screaming and crying out, some in pain, others in terror. Callen managed to guide her back to their seats and sat her down.

"Nell?...NELL!" When she didn't respond to him the first time, he shook her a little. The glazed expression on her face cleared a bit and she looked at him.

"Callen, what happened?" She looked around and could see people hurrying this way and that.

"We must have hit some bad turbulence. Are you hurt?" He was running his hands over her arms, back and head to see if she had been injured but couldn't see any damage.

"No, I'm good." She shook her head and realised that Callen had his hands resting on her hips. She placed her hands on his arms and asked "Are you?"

He shook his head then turned to look behind them "No but there are others that are, think we can help?"

"Couldn't hurt. With all the experience you have at patching yourself and Sam up, you'll be better at it than me."

"I'll still need an assistant." He stood and pulled her up with him. They went to the hostess area and found the woman who had handed them their meals just an hour earlier. She was tending to another staff member who had hit her head on the cupboard.

"Anything we can do to help, May?" Callen asked as he knelt down next to the woman. He handed her a gauze swab when she tossed the one she had been using to the side.

"Please, I can hear several people behind me and there are no doubt more through-out the plane. The pilots are fine, they rang me to see what the damage was." She pointed to a spot above Nell "There is another first aid kit there and two more in the economy kitchen in the same area. Are you doctors?"

"No, but we know a thing or two about how to patch up a wound." After watching Nell struggle to get the kit down from its very secure position he got up and pulled it out, nearly knocking another man over.

"Sorry, I'm a doctor. A woman in the seat in front of me hit her head pretty hard, can I have a first aid kit?"

"Here, take this one." Callen handed the one he had just pulled out to the man.

"Thank you." He left and Callen and Nell headed toward economy to get to other two kits. They passed several people who had been hurt by the drop and after the third person, Callen asked Nell to help them. He grabbed a couple of the covers off the tops of the seats around them and told her to use them as bandages, slings whatever until he got back with the kits.

Nell nodded and watched a moment as he left then turned her attention to a five year old girl, who had hurt her wrist when the plane levelled out. She lost track of the number of people she and Callen helped. They found out that the doctor's name was Malcolm. Together the three of them along with May and several other passengers helped bandage, strap and calmed close to three quarters of the passengers and staff. There were very few people who didn't come out of the drop unscathed. As it was, nearly three hours passed before Nell noticed that Callen had cut his arm on something when they fell.

As they worked, they heard the captain announce, that since they were over water and Melbourne was closer, they would be continuing on and that there would be ambulances waiting on the tarmac when they landed for those that needed them. There were a dozen cases that were serious enough that they had yet to wake up. And they still had three hours to go.

"Callen, let me take a look at your arm." When the doctor told them he would keep an eye on the worse cases, Nell sat Callen in an empty chair and tore the sleeve off the long sleeve shirt he wore. The other had been used as a sling for a woman who had dislocated her shoulder.

"Huh?" Callen looked at the area Nell was cleaning and saw the blood. "I didn't even notice." He winced slightly as Nell worked. It was about two inches long and, while not very deep, Callen knew that it would leave a bit of a scar.

Nell cleaned it as best she could. They were down to using bottled water, and there was very little left. Most of it was being use to keep fluids up to those who had been hurt badly. She covered the wound with his own sleeve, as all the bandages had been used long ago. The sleeve was soon soaked but then it stopped bleeding.

"You ok Nell?" Callen had noticed that her usual bounciness had gone when they had started to help the other passengers, but this was different. She was totally avoiding his gaze. He cupped her chin with the opposite hand and tilted her head toward his face. "Nell?" he asked again.

"Yeah?"

"You ok?"

"Um, yeah." She sighed, she should have known that he would have noticed something. She pulled back from his grasp and looked down at her hands. They had blood on them, his and others. They could only use a small amount of water to clean them and it wasn't enough to wash it all off. She had seen Sam, Callen, Deeks even Kensi patch themselves and each other up but she had never had to do it before. They started to shake as the shock of the plane dropping from under her and then helping everyone hit her.

Callen noticed her looking at her hands and realised what was around the corner. He wrapped his arms around her as the shaking started and held her as she cried. After a few minutes, the doctor, Malcolm, came over to them and asked if they could help him move the patients that were simply unconscious away from those who were seriously hurt. They would be landing in a couple of hours and he wanted a clear path to them for the paramedics.

"Nell?" Callen called to her as he pulled her away from him. He brushed back a stray hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Can you help the doc and me to move some people?" He saw her nod and helped her up.

Callen and Nell helped Malcolm move five of the unconscious passengers to another area. The other seven were in a bad way. Three of them had been next to a food cart and it had landed on them when the plane levelled out. Two had been badly burnt from hot water from the kettle, one of them a flight attendant. The last two were an elderly couple that had been walking the aisles to stop their blood clotting and several bags from the overhead lockers had landed on them. The doctor was concerned that they wouldn't make it.

They took turns over the next couple of hours to watch the patients. When the pilots announced that they were starting their decent into Melbourne airport, there were several small cheers scattered around the plane.

Callen held Nell as they landed, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other holding her hands. The first people off were the seven seriously injured people. Next were the unconscious people, two had woken up since they had been moved so there was only three that were taken out on stretchers. After that it was those closest to the exits. Callen, Nell, May and Malcolm, stayed back and helped others off the plane, then, after a final check to ensure that there was no one left on board, were the last ones off.

It was another couple of hours before Callen and Nell managed to get through customs and into the arrival lounge. Police and airline officials wanted to talk to them to find out what happened; while paramedics wanted to make sure that they were ok. Knowing that they did not need this kind of publicity, Callen flashed his badge and spoke to the agent in charge and asked that their names be kept out of all reports, official or otherwise. If they had any further questions they could contact them at the end of their trip. Callen lead Nell away from everything and managed to avoid the news cameras.

He headed out of the terminal after collecting their bags and started looking for his friend. He spotted her standing on a chair looking for him. He led Nell over to her and coughed to get her attention. "Mimi."

The woman turned and looked at him in shock "Oh my God, Ge Ge!" She practically threw herself off the chair at him as she screamed. She was close to G's age, with brown hair, tightly wrapped in a bun on top of her head. She and G laughed as he swung her around several times before setting her on the ground. As they stepped back, the woman suddenly slapped him. Nell gasped as G put a hand to his cheek, looking at her in shock.

"That's for making me wait thirty years." Then she stepped up to him, pulled him down to her level and kissed him. "And that's for finally showing up." She lightly patted his cheek and stepped back. A huge silly grin plastered on her face. She suddenly giggled loudly, clapped her hands and jumped up and down. Then she hugged G again "I still can't believe you're finally here."

"And here I was thinking you were like that just in your letters."

"And then you went and gave me a heart attack by being on the plane that dropped off the radar for several minutes. What happened?" Hands on hips, she tipped her head to one side.

"Later, Mimi, this is Nell Jones." Callen's manners remembered themselves and he realised that Nell was standing a little way from them. He stepped back over to her and introduced her. "Nell, this is Mimi, my best friend and Pen Pal of thirty years."

* * *

I hope that this was ok. To those who have left reviews, WOW, thank you so much. They seriously put a smile on my face and a spark in my day.


	4. The Drive

Ok. Here we go. Disclaimer see chapter 1.

* * *

"Nell Jones. THE Nell Jones." Callen nodded "Oh. My. God. It is an honour to finally meet you." As she went to shake her hand, Mimi noticed the blood on her hands and the crude bandage on Callen's arm. "Oh heck, what happened on the plane?" she took Nell's hands and led them over to a water fountain and pulled a clean handkerchief from her pocket. She started to clean Nell's hands as she waited for Callen to answer.

"Major turbulence, a lot of people got hurt."

"And you being Sir Galahad, stepped in with his lady in white to save the day." She looked back at Nell's hands to see that there was no blood on them anymore. She looked up at her face to see Nell looking at her intently. "Are you ok, Miss Jones?" she held her hands.

"Yeah, uh I don't mean to be rude, but how did you get that." She mimed on her own face the large scar that was captivating her attention. It ran from Mimi's chin, across her right cheek where it split into two and continued up to her hair line, one above her ear the other disappearing above her eyebrow, it looked faded as though it had happened years ago. Of all the questions burning in her mind, for some reason it jumped to the front of the queue.

Mimi laughed and said "I walked into myself. Now let's get you to my place before the media realises who we are." She led the way to the pickup area.

"Uh, Callen, who is she?" Nell was a little stunned at the way the woman acted, moving from one topic to another without a pause.

"Like I said, my best friend. Oddly enough though, this is the first time we've ever met." He wrapped his arm around Nell's shoulders and followed Mimi out of the airport.

They followed her to a limousine, where Callen dumped their bags into the boot of the car. In the car, Callen sat next to Nell at the rear while Mimi sat up front behind the driver.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand how you know each other. And what did you mean about the media recognising you?" Nell was feeling left out of the loop. She had so many questions buzzing through her head.

"Well I guess I can answer some of them, we've got over an hours drive ahead of us till we get home." She leaned forward and opened a small fridge and handed then each a bottle of water, which they drank half of before recapping them. She leaned back and looked at Callen, who nodded. "Well, I guess it started thirty years ago when Oz and the USA decided to create a better understanding of the other though the younger generation. Names of children were randomly pulled from the data bases and each child was given a name of another from the other country. I got G. Callen, and let me tell you, the first three letters were pretty much the same."

"What do you mean?" Nell was feeling a little better since Mimi had cleaned the blood from her hands and the water had helped.

"What does the G stand for? How can you not know your own name? Why are you in foster care?" Callen rattled off the questions like clockwork. "Almost every second line had one of those questions in them. In between telling me about herself they would suddenly pop up. For a thirteen year old who had gotten used to the fact that he would never know, it was a little annoying to have someone remind you of it every month." Callen settled back against the chair. He had known her for thirty years, but still couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to meet her.

Nell watched the back and forth. It was clear that they knew each other really well. "Every month?"

"Yep, part of the plan was to send a letter to each other once a month. It usually took two weeks for our letters to reach each other. I think his social worker made sure that he got my letters. He was always moving around." Mimi took drink of water and continued. "His letters were short at first, just half a page. Then he stayed with one family for three months and after that they were about three or four pages long."

"Which family?" Nell suddenly gasped "Oh my God, Callen, I have to call my parents! They must be worried sick about me. They don't need anything else to worry about on top of everything else." She was franticly digging around in her bag for her phone. In the aftermath of the plane and meeting Mimi, she had forgotten them. She found it and turned it back on, finding several messages from her worried family on it. She rang them and Callen went to sit Mimi to give her some space.

"She really is close to them. How come she isn't spending the fortnight with them?" Mimi asked Callen as he settled.

"The night before we left, she got a call from them. They had come down with something that had them in the hospital. I found her crying in her office and asked her if she wanted to come with me."

"Just like that? I know you G. You don't do spontaneous."

"I was planning to ask her to come when our boss gave us the time at the beginning of the week, but then I heard her say that couldn't wait to see her family. Not having one kinda makes you realise just how important they are. I mean I see it when I'm with Sam and his family and how much he misses them when we work such odd hours. But they're in LA, Nell's family is on the other side of the country."

"Fair enough. So I take it the two of you aren't together?"

"No." Mimi heard a small sigh from her friend "I'm kinda hoping this trip will see what we have between us, if anything."

"You could have called ahead so I'd have the other room done up for you."

"I did. That night."

Mimi blushed and said "With the racing carnival coming up, I've been ignoring my phone. I'm too busy to listen to people asking pointless questions about whether their boyfriend will like the dress or if they should change it."

"Ah right, I forgot about that." Callen heard Nell say good bye to her family and went back to sit next to her. "All good?"

"Yeah, they were really worried that they couldn't reach me this morning," she paused for a moment "What time is it?"

"It's Sunday afternoon. We're ahead of you by about fifteen hours. You left on Friday?"

Callen nodded. "I think that's about right. How are they?" he placed a hand on her shoulder and was pleased that she rested her head on it for a moment before looking up at him.

"Getting there, the doctors think it might have been a virus that they picked up from the water at the park where some of my cousins played soccer the other day. Apparently quite a few people have come down with it."

"You tell them were you are?"

"Yeah I said that a work colleague invited me to Australia. I didn't tell them about the plane almost falling out of the sky." She shuddered a little at the memory and Callen wrapped his arms around her again.

"It did more than that." Both Callen and Nell looked at her. "Didn't you see the plane when you came off?" they both shook their heads. "Several pieces were missing from the fuselage, wings and tail. It was a wonder it managed to land at all. And it dropped off the radar. Everyone thought it was in the water."

"Oh my God!" Nell's hand flew to her mouth, "We nearly died!"

"But we didn't, that's what counts." He started to rub her back in slow circles, which calmed her down. Her breathing slowed and she leaned against him.

"Did I hear you say racing?" Nell looked over at Callen's friend.

"Yep, the Spring Racing Carnival is the biggest event in the horse racing industry here. Especially with the Melbourne Cup the day after tomorrow. Jason, my husband gets back later tonight with more dresses from Paris. We've been inundated with requests for certain designers. You coming G.?"

"I'm game if Nell's up for it." He looked down at the smaller woman he still had his arm around.

"Event? As in dresses that cost my yearly salary and famous people?" Nell looked startled. "You told me not to pack any!" she leaned back from Callen and swatted at his arm, the bandaged one.

"Ow. Yes. I was kind of hoping that you could help us out Mimi. You know I don't have anything suitable and nothing stays wrinkle free in a suitcase."

"You own a dress shop?" Nell asked Mimi.

"You really didn't tell her anything about me. Yes, but it's a bit more than a shop. As I said, Jason is returning from Paris. And the dresses I sell, your salary most likely wouldn't pay for even half a dress." Mimi could see the shock on Nell's face. Then her speech sped up as she described the events coming up. "It's the race that stops the nation, literary. The carnival started on Saturday so you missed that one. But there's The Melbourne cup itself on Tuesday, the breakfast in the morning then the race in the afternoon, so that's two dresses. Then there's the Crown Oak's Day on Thursday; that one is all about the ladies so we really need to go all out for that one. And finally there is the Emirates Stakes Day on Saturday and that's a family day, so we can dress a little casually for that one. So in total we are looking at at least four dresses for you." As Mimi spoke, she punctuated the words with flamboyant waves of her hands, constantly pointing at Nell, the windows, the roof, Nell, ticking off the number of dresses needed on her hands.

Callen chuckled, having thirty years of reading her letters to get use to her way of talking; while Nell looked at the woman in wonder.

"Four!?" Nell looked at the woman she had met barely fifteen minutes before. "Who are you?"

Both Callen and Mimi laughed. "My father is a major sponsor of the races during the Cup Carnival. So we get into all the really good places. I own a dress boutique."

"And have access to the best dresses. I'm pretty sure Hetty gets them direct from the designers, what about you?."

"Ah, yes, your mysterious 'ninja like' boss. I really would love to meet her one day. And yes I do get them from the designers too." Mimi took another drink.

"What do you know about what we do for a living?" Nell was worried that Callen had told her about what he did.

"Well, not specifics, but from what I can gather from your letters, even the cryptic ones, you're in law enforcement, but since meting you Nell, I know it's not the regular police."

"How do you mean?" Callen was certain that he had told her nothing in his letters about what he did.

"G., I've known you for thirty years, I've learnt to read between the lines. You wrote to me to let me know that you had been accepted into the military. After a few years, your letters started to originate in the States, instead of foreign countries so I guessed that you had returned home. Most returned officers join some sort of law enforcement." She looked at her friend of thirty years, and although this was the first time she had seen him face to face, she could tell that he was worried. "You didn't give me any details about what you did, and if you had been a normal cop, you would have. So I figured I didn't want to know. You would let me know if you might not be able to write for a while, when you changed jobs or positions. It was like you were a kid again, moving around all over the place and keeping things to yourself. That and there was no way in hell a police department would have the resources or budget to be able to get someone like Nell working for them if she is as half as good as you wrote about." She stilled her hands as she watched a slight blush creep into Callen's cheeks.

Nell looked at Callen and saw the redness creeping in "What did you tell her about me?" She was intrigued. She liked this woman. Sure, she bounced from one topic to the next in a heartbeat and didn't seem to pause for breath, but she had an optimism that they didn't see all that often in their line of work. She could see why Callen had become friends with her.

"Just that you are really good at what you do." Callen said, hoping that Mimi would drop the subject before she said something that would make them all uncomfortable.

"Bull. While he didn't give me details about specifically what you did, he praises you like I've never known him to praise anyone before." Mimi crossed her arms, daring Callen to challenge her. "And from what I can read between the lines, he would have been dead several times over if it weren't for you."

"Sam helped." Callen said suddenly.

"Yes, at where ever you end up, but if it weren't for whatever it is you do Nell, you G. would be dead."

Nell looked at Callen with awe in her face. She knew that Callen appreciated what she did, but hearing from some else that he praised her, it was a little overwhelming. "You told her that?"

Callen nodded, unable to say anything. He had a feeling as to what Mimi's game was.

Silence filled the car as they thought about what had taken place. Callen figured that Mimi was subtly letting Nell know that he liked her, more than a friend and co-worker. He realised that he still had his arm around her shoulders.

Nell realised that Mimi had given her an insight into her and Callen's relationship. Mimi had mentioned she had a husband, so there was nothing in that regard between them. Then she had told her that Callen praised her. PRAISED HER! She was still trying to wrap her head around that. She shook her head to try and make sense of things and discovered his arm still around her.

Mimi watched the two people in front of her. Callen she had known since she was twelve years old, but Nell, well, she only had Callen's letters to go on, but so far, she was what he wrote. She hoped that by sharing a little of what he wrote about her, Nell would realise that he cared for her. She saw Nell shake her head and Callen start to remove his arm from her shoulders but stopped when Nell placed a hand on his, keeping it there. She watched as Nell settled closer to Callen and tucked her head against him before closing her eyes.

"Might be a good idea, we've still got another fourty minutes or so before we get home." She saw Callen look at her oddly before she nodded toward the smaller woman tucked against him. Callen looked down at Nell and smiled slightly before relaxing back against the chair and closing his eyes.

* * *

Authors Note: I know, I jump about in this chapter, half answering things before moving onto something else. That's what Mimi is like. Everything that was half answered here will be fully answered when they get to Mimi's place in the next chapter, or maybe the next one. Also, not sure if the whole international PenPal thing is real, but my Mum has one in the US, so that's part of the insperation behind this story. And thirdly, we've just had the Melbourne Cup here so that's another reason for this.


	5. The House and Rooms

Sorry about the delay. Here we go. If I stray from Callen and Nell too much let me know. My muse likes to play with the ringings as much as the main charaters.

* * *

The rest of the trip was conducted in silence as both Callen, with Nell tucked against him, slept until Mimi said that they had arrived. Despite the eight hour record sleep he had on the plane, he managed to nod off again. He was a little startled when Mimi shook his shoulder.

"Thought you might like to see the driveway in something other than pictures." She said as she leaned back. Callen nodded and sat up and woke Nell.

"This is your driveway?" Nell asked in awe as, after a couple of minutes, they had still not reached the house.

"Yep, three kilometres long. We own a small vineyard on the outskirts of Melbourne."

"Wow." Nell watched as row after row of vines slid past, interspersed with eucalyptus trees. "I didn't know that eucalyptus trees grew here?" she asked as she caught the scent of them.

"Oh yeah. The tree was introduced into America by Aussies heading to the California gold fields." She pointed over her shoulder as they rounded a bend in the road. "This is the house."

Callen looked at the mansion in awe. Pictures were one thing, but being here and seeing it in person was quite another. Nell gasped in shock at the size of the building. It was three stories, light yellow in colour with patches of oranges and reds scattered on the walls. The roof was corrugated iron, unpainted, reflecting the sunlight off it like a giant mirror.

"What did you say the walls were made of?"

"Sandstone with red and orange orca." She opened the door as the limo slowed to a stop outside the front entrance. She stepped back out of the way as Callen came out then he turned and helped Nell out. "Leave your bags, Nick will take them to your room. Did you want me to get another room made up for you, GG? The room I planned for you would better for Nell as it's bigger." she turned to them as they looked at each other. After a moment and neither said anything, she said "Tell you what, I'll get it made up and you can choose." She turned and followed a man taking her friends bags.

"Um, you can stay in the room Mimi had planned for you, I'll take the smaller one." Nell said to Callen as she stepped past him and headed into the house. She looked up at the building as she walked, drinking in the smells and sunshine. She thought back to the drive here. She had a lot to think on. Callen told her a lot about himself and apparently those he worked with. While Mimi had said that Callen had been cryptic, she was still worried. Then she realised that this had started before he was even in the military. He had been keeping this to himself, because that was the way he was. And if indeed Hetty did not know about Mimi, then Callen had given her a huge amount of trust in telling her about Mimi.

Callen stayed rooted to the spot for a moment. He hadn't even thought about what the sleeping arrangements would be. Pausing for a moment longer, he then spun round and followed her. His longer legs catching up to her and he fell into step beside her as he spoke. "You take the bigger one. I didn't bring as much as you." He felt that the closeness they had shared in the car had gone, and he wasn't sure what to do to bring it back. He let her led the way as they followed Mimi up the stairs.

"Well, here we are. Now, since you're probably stuffed from the flight, dinner will be at seven. Nell this is your room." Mimi opened the door to a room the size of her apartment. A bed twice the size of hers back home was made up with the cover pulled down. A small door to one side showed tiles that indicated the bathroom. Nell gasped as she walked in and felt her feet sink into the carpet. "Callen, your room is next door. The shower in it is playing up at the moment, so you'll have to share with Nell." Mimi caught Callen's raised eyebrow. "I mean, share Nell's … ohhh, you'll have to use it one at a time. You know what I mean." She gave up trying to make sense and left the two of them to it. "You can rest up till dinner. You've got about three hours. I'll come get you when it's almost ready." She left before Callen saw her cheeks and figured out her plan. She still couldn't believe that he was finally here, with Nell, of all people. After hearing all about her, she was going to try and make them realise that they belong together. And it would be easier once they met Jason.

"Why don't you go first in the shower Nell?" Callen pickup his bag and headed toward the room that Mimi had pointed to. It connected to Nell's via a French style door. He opened it and walked into a room a little smaller than Nell's but done in the same style. The bed didn't have any sheets but as he thought about it, the main door opened and a woman in her twenties entered, sheets and doona in hand.

"Sorry sir, I won't be a second." She said as she put the items on the cabinet beside the bed.

"That's alright." He said as he placed his bag on the floor next to a chest of draws. "Please, call me Callen."

"Oh my God! Callen! Really?!" the woman spun around and successfully knocked the pile of linens to the floor. "I didn't recognise you! Mum said that you would be arriving today. How come you aren't in the room she had set up for you?"

"You must be Sophia. Pleased to meet you, at last." He walked toward her and held out his hand. She shook it vigorously then proceeded to jump on the spot, clapping her hands. "Like mother like daughter." He laughed as he stepped back to his bag.

She stopped jumping at his words, a blush creeping into her cheeks "Please tell me she did not?" at Callen's nod, she groaned and bent down to pick the sheet up. Before Callen had a chance to help her, she had them on the bedside table again. "You didn't answer my question."

"I brought a friend, she's having a shower at the moment. Your mother said that the shower in this room wasn't working, do you know why?" Callen had his back to Sophia so didn't see the smile that graced her face.

"Nope. I'm only out here on the weekends when I'm not at uni." She turned back to making the bed.

"Mimi gets you to make beds on the weekend? I thought she had staff for that?" Callen pulled out some things to change into after his shower. The shirt he had on at the moment was going into the bin.

"She does, but during race week, she gives it off. There we go, all done. And I get extra pocket money on top of what I make in the shop." She turned back to Callen as she said the last line, making sure that the bed was neat one last time before heading off. "See you at dinner." She called back over her shoulder.

Callen finished putting the last of his things in the drawers when Nell knocked on his door half an hour later. "Showers free. Wow, nice room." She looked around without coming in. It was Callen's room after all.

"Thanks, I won't be long." He looked at her as he approached "You ok?" He asked. She was a little flushed.

"Yeah, just really needed a hot bath. I think I may have had the hot water up a little high. I nearly scolded myself. The taps are the other way around here." She warned him. She had turned on the first tap thinking that it was cold, only to have hot water come out. If she hadn't been standing outside the tub she would have been scolded.

"Thanks. Why don't you get some sleep? We've got a few hours before dinner and I don't want you face planting in it half way through." He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment and was surprised when she dipped her head to it again, like she had in the car.

"Yeah, sounds good." She stifled a yawn with a hand and headed to the bed as Callen made his way to the shower.

He was surprised at the size; it was, for lack of a better word, huge. Plain white tiles made up most of floor, with a weaving line of pale blue ones meandering across it like a stream. The walls were various shades of brown and green and Callen got the feeling he was in a forest. The shower was a decent size and he could see that Nell hadn't used it. Instead, the bath was wet. It was about as long as he was tall, so Nell must have had a decent soak.

Taking his time in the shower, washing airline smell of himself, and blood off his hands, he forgot about the cut to his arm until he ran a cloth over it. Then he had a good look at himself. There were bruises covering his arms, back and legs from their drop. _Nell must be like this too. No wonder she looks so tired. _He thought.

He stepped out, dried himself off and headed back toward his room, only to stop at the sight of Nell on the bed.

* * *

Well there we go. Please let me know what you think.


	6. The family

Here we are, chapter six. For disclaimer see chapter 1.

* * *

She was curled up, under the covers, but she wasn't resting. Callen could see her shaking. Then as he started to go over and try and wake her, she screamed and sat bolt upright. Callen realised that she was still in her nightmare, so he called out to her softly, not wanting to startle her. "Nell?" he stepped closer to her. "Nell, it's Callen." He was in her line of sight now, at the foot of the bed.

She looked at him, a glazed expression in front of her eyes and Callen realised that she was in shock. She hadn't had time to deal with it on the plane and then in the aftermath, they had met Mimi and everything got pushed to the back of his mind.

"Callen?" She asked dazed. She looked at him and her eyes cleared for a moment, then the gates opened and she started crying in great racking sobs while trying to get air into her lungs. Callen was beside her instantly and wrapped his arms around her. She clung to his shirt, tears wetting the fabric. After a few minutes, she was asleep. When Callen tried to remove her hands from it, he found that despite the fact she was asleep, her grip remained. So instead, he shifted them slightly and lay down on the bed, with her on his chest. He closed his eyes, intending to simply rest them, so that if Nell woke up he would notice. He was asleep before he realised it.

A light knock at the door to Nell's room woke him. He opened his eyes and looked toward the door. After a moment a second knock sounded followed by a soft voice. "Dinner will be ready in half an hour Nell if you want something." He heard footsteps moving away and noticed that they didn't head toward his room.

_Mimi must have knocked on my door first. _He thought. He looked down at the small woman on his chest then at his watch. They had managed to sleep for a couple of hours. He shook Nell's shoulder as he sat up, calling her name softly. "Hey Nell, you awake?" Nell made a small noise as she woke, causing a smile to come to Callen's lips.

"Mmmm, uh what?" she was a little confused as to why she was on Callen's chest, then she realised that she was in her own bed. "What happened?" she asked as she sat up. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on her bed.

"You were having a nightmare when I came out of the shower. You screamed and sat up." Callen rubbed her back, noticing that she hadn't moved away from him.

"I'm sorry." Nell remembered what happened. She had been dreaming about the plane dropping out of the sky, only it didn't stop until it hit the water, which was when she had woken.

"It's ok Nell, we're safe now." Callen said, rubbing her back.

Nell realised that she had spoken out loud and buried her face in her hands, trying to stop the tears. "How do you do it?" she asked as she rubbed her hands over her face and brushing her hair back. "How are you ok with what happened? Why, how come you…?" she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Why haven't I cracked?" At Nell's nod, he continued "Because we're alive and we didn't get hurt, so I put it away in a part of my mind that contains other close shaves that my friends and I have gotten out of over the years. Ones that we've walked away from. If you had been hurt, I never would forgive myself, Nell." At some point, his hands had left her back and hands and travelled to her face. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her hazel doe like eyes. "Because we made it. And if I crack, then surviving means nothing because the bad guys will have won." He sat back and released her face. "or in this case, the plane and bad turbulence." He dipped his head to one side, wondering if that could even work. The break in the seriousness of his tone had the desired effect, Nell smiled.

"Now, what do you say to some dinner with good friends? I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the family." He clapped his hands together and got off the bed then turned back and helped Nell up. After washing her face, she met him outside her door.

"Thank you Callen." Nell said. Thinking about what he had told her, she realised that he was right, they had survived. Then she thought about the ones that had been badly hurt "What about the other passengers?" she looked up at him as they headed down the stairs.

"They're all going to be ok, even the ones that had to be taken out on stretchers." A male voice called from the bottom of the stairs. "The elderly couple need to stay in hospital for a while, but they are expected to make a full recovery." The voice continued as Nell and Callen got closer. "it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Callen, I'm Jason." He held out his hand for Callen to shake.

Callen took it, "Same here." He motioned to Nell, whom he had placed an arm around her hips. "This is Nell Jones."

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Jones." He bent low and placed a kiss on the back of her hand, French style.

Nell giggled as his moustache tickled the back of her hand. "Thank you. Mimi mentioned that you were getting back from Paris tonight" she said, in French.

Both Callen and Jason were a little taken aback but Mimi's husband recovered fast "I see you speak the language." He replied in kind.

"My Mom got into it in high school and her passion for it infected me, I guess." She shrugged. She looked at the man that Mimi had made her life with. He looked to be a lot older then her, closer to his sixties. His hair had gone silver, not white. It made him look sophisticated. His eyes were a bright green, like emeralds and he walked with grace, the cane at his side more for looks than for use.

Callen knew that Jason was older than Mimi, but she had never told him just how much older. He was at least twenty years her senior. He walked free of any limps that usually came with age, but then, the man didn't do what he did for a living. He was well dressed in a white three piece suite with a green tie that matched his eyes. Mimi said that he had walked into the shop shortly after opening and asked for a job. She said no but after three weeks of him coming in every day at the same time and asking the same thing, she said yes. Within two years they were partners, and three years after that, they were married.

Jason led them to the dining room. Mimi had sent him to check on them, when after half an hour, they hadn't showed up. He came across them on the stair case just as the small red haired woman asked Callen about the other passengers. He had been watching the news all afternoon and had heard about the missing plane from his own pilots as he flew back from Paris. After being introduced to Nell, he was surprised that she knew French, and judging by the fact that Callen hadn't asked them to repeat anything, meant that he knew too.

Mimi had told him a little about the two of them from the letters that Callen sent. His wife had texted ahead and asked Sophia to disable the shower in the other guest room. He had a feeling that she was trying to play matchmaker. And he was going to be part of the plan. He saw that there was at least twenty years between Nell and Callen, just as there was between himself and Mimi. He guessed that this was going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

Nell and Callen followed Jason into the dining room, a very large room. It had French style doors along two walls that opened to the garden that they could see in the fading light. Callen guessed that this room was used as a function space when it wasn't dressed as a dining room. He felt Nell stop and his hand slid from her hip before he could pull up.

Nell didn't think she could get any more surprised until she walked into the dining area. A large heavy looking table filled the centre that was set for six. The chairs were high backed and had pale blue upholstery. The blue continued into the carpet and along the walls. "Someone likes blue." She said. The two other people in the room looked up from their conversation at the table. They looked about her age. But before they could say anything, a door to the side opened.

"Ah, there you are, I was starting to get worried. Everything all right?" Mimi came in carrying a tray of vegetables. She saw the lines under Nell's eyes and the flush in her cheeks. She looked toward Callen who nodded and placed his arm back around Nell's waist. "Right, well then introductions. Nell, Callen, this is our daughter Sophia and twin brother Steven. Kids, This is Nell Jones and …" Mimi paused for a moment, for dramatic effect, "G. Callen."

"Stone the crows!" Steven cried. "I thought Mum was having a go at us when she said that you were coming. Then Sophia said that you were here and I figured she had been pulled into the con." He walked over and shook Callen's hand, his grip put Sam's to shame. He released Callen's hand, who opened and closed it a couple of time to make sure that it still worked. "Great to meet you mate." He turned to Nell and lightly kissed the back of hers, just as his father had done moments earlier. "Mademoiselle. I have heard so much about you. We all have."

"Steve, don't embarrass them." Sophia groaned out and pulled out a chair and sat down.

The other adults laughed and Mimi showed them to their seats. Callen ended up with Nell on one side of him and Mimi on the other. The rest of the family sat on the other side. The table held a roast that smelled amazing along with plates of vegetables and sauces.

"I didn't know if you ate meat or not, that's why there are so many vegies out." Mimi said as Jason cut the roast.

"That's fine. I don't mind a bit of meat. What we had on the plane was ok, but this smells way better." Nell fell silent as they all remembered how close they had come to not being here at all. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean …" she trailed off as Mimi's hand reached over and covered hers.

"Hey, if we can't talk or joke about it, especially with what I don't know you do for a living, then we don't deserve to live." She said. She held the younger woman's hand a moment longer then sat back and passed a plate of meat to Callen, who passed it onto Nell.

Once everyone had a plate and filled it with whatever they wanted, Jason asked "Either of you say grace at the table?" When they both shook their heads he continued "Ok, dig in." and with that, the family pick up their cutlery and started to eat. After a moment's pause, Callen and Nell copied them.

Nell noticed Callen was using his right hand as little as possible and asked if he was ok.

"Uh, yeah, just wasn't expecting a superman grip." He looked up at Steve, who was hit by his twin.

"Steve, really? You know that the only people who can take that are your kind." She turned back to Callen, "I'm sorry, he was testing you."

"Superman grip?" Nell looked between the two.

"Yeah, his put's Sam's to shame." Callen saw the look on Nell's face and nodded "Yep." Nell looked back to Steve. He was smaller than Sam both in height and weight but she could see the muscles under the shirt he wore. They looked like Sam's, but again smaller.

"How?"

"I doubt that Sam has to rope a runaway bullock every hour or hold down a calf that doesn't want to get branded." Steve answered, he saw the look of confusion on their faces so he continued "I work on a cattle station a couple of hours from here. Trust me, no city slicker will ever have the muscles of a bushie, no matter how many weights they lift." Still seeing the doubt there, he said "Tell you what, when the races are finished, I'll take you out there for a couple of days. I'm sure that my foreman won't mind."

"That is a great idea. You'll enjoy it." Mimi said, looking at her guests.

The rest of the meal was conducted in silence until Jason stood to clear the table. Callen and Nell stood with him and started to pull plates toward themselves. "Oh no you don't." He placed his hand on one that Nell had grabbed, "You follow Mimi into the living room. You are Mimi's guests. Go, sit, talk. I'll bring in something in a minute. Tea?"

"That would be good. Thanks darling." Mimi stood and showed Callen and Nell the way to another room off to the side. It was smaller than any room they had been in so far. They took chairs that surrounded a fire place that had been started. It had started to get a little cold after the sun had gone down. "Now, what do you want to know Nell?"

"Um?" Nell wasn't sure what she meant.

"You looked like you wanted ask questions all through dinner. Pick one question and I'll answer it."

"Just one?" She had a million but she was hoping to get a few more than one answered.

"You look about done in. You haven't slept much in the last 24 hours." Callen said from where he sat beside her on the couch. He had his arm around her shoulder again. He couldn't help it.

"Oh, right." Now that she thought about it, she was tired. "Um, well I guess it would be how you got the scar."

"Right back to the beginning hey?" as Nell nodded and leaned against Callen, Mimi settled in her chair.

"It was in March 2006. I was near Innisfail visiting a friend. We were on cyclone watch as Cyclone Larry was heading our way. The rains and winds closed the roads before we could evacuate so we hunkered down in the house. It hit the coast early on Monday morning the 20th. We all in the bathroom until the eye passed over us. Now, we knew that we weren't supposed to go out, but her kids were getting restless. We went out for about ten minutes until the winds started to pick up again. As we were heading back in, my friend spotted a piece of debris the wind had picked up. It was heading straight for her son, who had wandered across the street. I raced toward him and managed to reach him just as the board hit us. It caught me across the face as I ducked." Her hands mimed the place the board had hit her.

"You said that you ran into yourself earlier." Callen mentioned. She had told him the story in one of her monthly letters, and included a photo, of all things, but she never mentioned that.

"I managed the get a look at what was written on it be for it hit me. It said 'Mimi's trash and treasure'. There was more trash than treasure after Larry though." She finished her tea and looked at her guests. Callen had a look that said "Fair enough." Nell, even though she was almost nodding off, looked a little shocked.

"You went outside during a … cyclone?" She paused at the word.

Mimi noticed and explained a little. "They're a bit like a hurricane, but smaller in size, not force." She stood and started to collect the cups. "We have a big day planed tomorrow, what with finding dresses and whatnot. Now I won't be here when you wake up. I'll be at the shop at about 6 to put the new dresses up in the window. Sophia will bring you to the shop when you're ready." She watched as they got to their feet, Nell leaning on Callen. "Have a good night you two. I still can't believe that you're finally here, GeGe." She hugged him before turning to Nell. "And that I get to meet you, Nell." She patted her shoulder "Sleep tight." Picking up the cups, she headed back toward the kitchen.

"Come on Nell, bed." Callen put one arm under Nell's and guided her up the stairs. They somehow managed to make it to the top without falling over. The long flight, the drama on board, excitement at meeting Mimi was crashing on them. Callen opened Nell's door and let her in. He watched a moment as she stumbled to the bed, falling onto it. He watched a moment longer, relaxing as he noticed her breathing even out in sleep. He closed the door and went to his room.

* * *

So here we are. Many of you were requesting a longer chapter, so here it is. Hope you enjoyed it. Cyclone Larry was real and did major damage in 06 to North Queensland. Don't know if there is a shop called Mimi's trash and treasure. I made it up for my story. Sorry if it feels a little choppy.


	7. The Nightmare and Breakfast

Here we go. Thanks so much for your reviews. For disclaimer see chapter 1.

* * *

After a while, he rolled over, trying to get to sleep. He hadn't found it that hard earlier. On the plane before the mayhem, then in the car and just before dinner. Then he realised that every time, Nell had been at his side. He sat up, wondering if he should go for a walk when he heard Nell scream again.

The dream started again soon after she fell onto the bed. Nightmare would be a better description though. She was walking back to her seat when the plane dropped. She saw Callen in front of her hit the roof, hard; heard a sicking crack as his head hit an open overhead locker on the way. The plane suddenly levelled out, and everything fell to the floor, Callen laying still. She made her way over to him, struggling over people, carts and luggage. She knelt down next to him, seeing the blood pouring from a wound on his neck, knowing that without major medical care, he wasn't going to make it. She tore his shirt sleeves off and used them to try and stop the bleeding. Just as she applied pressure on the wound, the plane dropped again. This time, it didn't level out, it hit the ocean. She screamed all the way down, opening her eyes as the plane made contact with the water, feeling arms around her. At first she tried to fight them off until she heard a familiar voice. She stopped struggling and leaned against the broad chest of Callen, trying to slow her breathing.

"It's all right Nell, you're safe, it's ok." She could hear Callen saying the same words over and over again, all the while rubbing her back and arms with his callused hands. After a few seconds, she had her breathing more or less under control. She gently pushed against his chest and sat up. She looked at his face. He must have turned a light on as he came in because there was plenty to see the worry in his eyes as they studied her face. He rested his hands on her shoulders as she pushed back from him. "The plane again?" he asked. She nodded, brushing a tear away from her face. She felt Callen's thumb brush one that she had missed from her cheek. "You want me to stay again?" he asked.

Nell looked at him. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to go to sleep again, in case it started again.

A knock at the door and Jason asking if they were alright sounded in the stillness.

Callen went over and opened it. "Yeah, Nell just had a nightmare. We're alright, thanks Jason." He stepped aside as Jason looked in to check on Nell himself.

Jason noticed Nell's face. It looked frightened. He would be too if he had managed to survive a plane dropping out from under him. He nodded and said "My wife keeps the chocolate powder behind the second door on the right of the fridge. Cups above it." He looked at Nell again then nodded to Callen and left them to it. He headed back to bed and told Mimi what had happened.

Callen left the door open and headed back to Nell. A hot chocolate would be a good idea. "Nell." He called to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You want some hot chocolate?"

"That sounds good." She sounded stronger and her face was a little more composed. She took his hand and let him help her off the bed and down to the kitchen. Since the only way they knew of was through the dining room, they went that way. After a couple of minutes they entered the kitchen. It was the size of the sitting room they had been in earlier. Nell sat at the island bench while Callen made the drinks. They drank in silence on the stools surrounding the bench.

"You want me to stay in your room for the rest of the night Nell?" Callen asked again. He knew that going through something like she had would take a while to put behind her. He had had many years of experience, so he was fine, but she had never been involved in anything like that and so didn't know how to cope. "I'll camp out on the couch there." He added, seeing her hesitate.

Nell was a little startled at his suggestion. She paused just long enough for him to notice and he added the last line. "Thanks Callen, that would be great." Knowing that he would be in the same room was a comfort. She cleaned the cups, and using a door other than the one they had entered, they found themselves back in the walkway that led to the stairs.

Callen grabbed a blanket from his bed along with a pillow and lay down on the couch. He heard Nell change in the bathroom, since she had fallen asleep earlier in her clothes. He kept his eyes closed, hearing her settle on the bed.

"Callen?" Nell called out after half an hour.

"Yeah?" he heard Nell shuffle around and wondered what was going on.

"I slept better when you were, um next to me, before."

He could hear the uneasiness in her voice and knew the reason for it. "You mean in the car?" He knew she meant when he was in the bed with her before dinner, but he figured that she was a little embarrassed at the fact that she had clung to him for dear life. "So did I. I've never slept a solid eight hours before." He looked up at the ceiling, waiting for Nell to make the move. It was up to her, he wasn't going to rush her.

"Really?" the question caught him a little off guard.

"Yeah. And again in the car, I fell asleep until Mimi woke me up. I can't recall ever falling asleep that fast."

"Can you, could you," Nell's request died on her lips as she didn't quite know how to phrase the question.

"You want me to lay next to you till you fall asleep?" Callen hadn't moved on the couch, still stared up at the ceiling, knowing what she wanted.

"Please?" Nell sounded relieved that Callen had managed to figure out what she wanted.

"You under the covers?" He wanted something between them, just in case.

"Uh, yes?" Nell wondered at the question until it dawned on her. "Oh, yeah, totally." She moved over to the left side of the bed, then thought "What side do you prefer?"

"Doesn't worry me. It's your bed, you pick your side." Callen got up and brought his blanket over to the bed. He saw Nell on the left and moved to the other side. He laid down and pulled it over himself. "You good?" He propped himself on his elbow, looking at her.

She had turned on her side to look at him. It was weird to be in bed with a man that she had long admired, even if it was just for a bit of comfort and support while she processed everything that had happened on the plane. "I will be now." Her voice was dropping with her eyelashes. After a moment, her breathing signalled that she had fallen asleep.

Callen watched her for a moment longer before he tucked his arm under his head and closed his own eyes. The next thing he knew the sun was streaming on his face, his watch read 8:30 and Nell was curled around him again. It had been around 1 am when he had laid next to Nell, so it was at least seven hours solid sleep this time. Then he noticed that at some point during the night, Nell had kicked the sheets off herself and was under the same blanket as Callen. He went to move away when she moaned and grabbed at his shirt. "Nell? It's morning. You awake?" Callen asked as he tried again to remove her hand. Her grip loosened a little as she woke. He pulled her hand away and slid a little til there was a bit of a gap between them.

"Mmm, Callen?" Nell slowly woke and found that she had kicked to covers off and was sharing the same one as Callen. They looked at each other, then Nell looked away, blushing. "You sleep well?" She asked as she moved to get up, not looking at him. She had a feeling from the look on his face that she had curled around him again at some point during the night.

"I managed seven hours this time. You? Any more nightmares?" He stood and pulled the blanket off the bed, finding the rest of the sheets on the floor, on his side of the bed.

"No, must be from sleeping next to you." She said, then slapped a hand over her mouth. She heard Callen chuckle behind her and turned to look at him.

"Same here, I've slept more in the last two days than in the last week combined." He paused for a moment "Thanks Nell." Then he turned and headed back to his room "I'll see you down stairs." He called back as he went through the connecting door.

Nell watched him leave and the room seemed to get a little colder. She shook her head, and then noticed the sheets on his side of the bed. She bent down and picked them up, at that point, she smelt his scent on them. Holding them close, she breathed in a little more before putting them on the bed and getting ready for breakfast.

He thanked her for helping him sleep. It was supposed to be the other way around. She had asked him to lie next to her to help keep the nightmare away, it seemed that it did the same for him, sleeping next to her. But she realised that the plane falling wouldn't keep him up, he had told her so. So what was it? _Everything else._ She thought. _Everything that he had seen and done in the last twenty or so years since becoming an agent. And more than likely things that had happened when he was a kid._ She paused a moment in pulling her shirt on over her head as she realised this fact. She finished getting dressed and headed downstairs to the dining room.

"Callen?" she called out when she found it empty. She looked at her watch and saw that it was just after nine.

"In here Nell." It sounded like Sophia.

Nell made her way in and saw Callen talking to the twins. "Morning." She said as she entered.

"Hey there, morning." Steve said as she walked in. He handed her a cup of coffee. "Greg said that you like it with a bit of sugar."

She took a sip as she processed the name "Greg?" she asked as she lowered the cup to the island bench where Sophia was making scrambled eggs.

Sophia pointed at G. with a frying pan before spinning it by the handle. She set it down on the stove with a solid thud. It was followed a moment later by a second pan, this time she conducted a bit of the song that was playing in the background with it before putting it on the stove. "Gregory George Callen, GeGe as Mum calls him." she said as she put the egg mixture into the pan. The phone rang but all three ignored it.

"Gregory George, hey?" Nell looked over at Callen, who was trying to keep a straight face.

"She got sick of calling me G. after the third letter so she sent me one with almost fifty names on it and asked me to pick two. I didn't know which ones I wanted so I did the tried and true method of picking something and ended up with Gregory and George. It's been Mimi and GeGe ever since."

"What tried and true method?"

"Hat." The other three people said at the same time. The phone stopped ringing.

All the while, Nell watched as Sophia whirled frying pans, pots, even the kettle sitting on the stove around in some weird yet controlled way. She finally asked "Are you trying to scare the eggs into scrambling themselves?" Sophia turned to her, a question in her eyes. Nell pointed at the frying pan in her hand.

"Oh, no, just practising."

"What?" Nell asked. The phone started again, and again they all ignored it. Nell looked at it then at Sophia.

"Caller ID says a blocked number, we don't answer those and they're not leaving a voice message. Ninja's have nun-cucks, police have guns, women have kitchen appliances. Mum taught me the value in learning how to throw a frying pan from an early age." She continued to cook as she spoke. "The most useful thing in a kitchen, aside from the knives, is a good heavy frying pan. Not one of those thin lightweight things, I'm talking about solid cast iron."

"Why would she teach you that?" Now Callen was intrigued. He could see why it had caught Nell's attention.

"She went to a self-defence class a couple of years ago, and the teacher said that most women get attacked in their own homes, so she taught her students what to grab in whatever room you were in to defend yourself with. In the kitchen it was knives and frying pans. If you had a large enough pot, that and a ladle works too." Sophia finished speaking as she placed a plate of crispy bacon and fluffy eggs in front of them, with toast on the side. The phone stopped again.

"A pot and ladle?" Callen asked as he picked up his cutlery.

"You didn't get your head covered by a pot or garbage can then have someone hit it with a spoon or stick?" Nell asked. At Callen's shake, she shook her head "It's like standing under a bell when someone rings it. The ringing stays with you for ages."

The phone started again.

"And speaking of ringing," Sophia dropped her cutlery and stalked over to the phone, yanking the hand set off the wall. "Look, whoever you are, this is a private number, how did you get it?"

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment, but when it spoke, Callen and Nell could hear the deep voice they knew so well. Callen shook his head. "Uh, I'm looking for G. Callen. I was told he was at this number." Sophia looked over at Callen, who was already making his way over to her.

"Hey Sam." Callen sighed. He had been hoping that when his friend checked up on him and found the note he left for Sam; that would be enough. Apparently not. "Why did Hetty give you this number?"

"Because you didn't G. I go round to check on you and ask one last time if you wanted to come, to find you gone and a note that says 'I'm out of the country and I'm fine.'" Callen heard a rustle of paper and realised that he was still in his house. "Now, why are you in Australia?"

Callen could almost see Sam standing in his kitchen, hands crossed in front of his chest, leaning on the wall. "For the races." Hoping that he would leave it at that. Telling Nell about his friends here was one thing, but he didn't want the rest of the team to know. He didn't know why, he just didn't.

"Races, G. you don't do races." Sam's voice was starting to get the way it did when he wouldn't stop hounding him until he said something more.

"Fine, I was invited down here by a woman I met the other day." He humphed and crossed his arms over his chest. He could feel everyone watching him.

"Really? She have a name?" Sam's voice had changed to mild amusement.

"Tina. Look, I was about to sit down and enjoy a nice breakfast with her. Anything else?" Callen really hoped that would be that. He knew that Sam had his back better than anyone he had ever worked with, but he tended to get a little to protective, especially when he wasn't with Callen.

"Yeah, Hetty asked if you've heard from Nell. Her parents tried to get a hold of her a couple of days ago, but she wasn't answering. They called Hetty who tried to call her, but still nothing." Sam sounded really worried.

"Yeah, I spotted her at the airport when I left the other day. Most likely she'll have called them when her flight landed. Should probably see if she has called her parents since then." Callen remembered then that Nell had told her folks that she was in Australia with a friend from work. He hoped that her parents wouldn't say anything about that. Sam would be able to put two and two together pretty quickly.

"Right. I'll let you know what's happening. Enjoy your holiday." Sam sounded a little happier that his best friend wasn't going to be lonely and that he had last seen Nell at the airport.

"You too Sam." Callen replaced the hand set and turned back to find everyone looking at him, just like he thought. "What?" he shrugged his shoulders.

Nell said "I take it that my parents got a hold of Hetty when they couldn't reach me the other day?"

"Yeah. What are the chances that they'll tell her what you told them?"

"What? Oh, you don't want anyone to figure out that I came with you?" She was a little worried that Callen didn't want this thing, if it was a thing, between them to be known.

"I'm not really worried about that, just, Mimi and her family are the one thing that everyone doesn't need to know about. It really is personal and it doesn't have anything to do with work." He sat back down next to her and ate his breakfast that Sophia had kept on the stove to keep warm.

"Fair enough." She relaxed a little.

Sophia and Steve looked at each other a moment, wondering why Callen hadn't told his friend that Nell was with him and lying about Mimi's name. Then they shrugged and went back to eating. If he wanted to keep Mimi to himself, it wasn't their place to say otherwise. They knew that Sam was his closest friend, but that was work. Mimi was outside of work, and they all knew how important it was to have someone you didn't work around all the time to talk to.

Once breakfast was finished, Steve collected the things together while the others went back to their rooms to get ready to head out. Sophia met them at the front of the house in a 4x4, half an hour later.

* * *

Hope this one is ok. I figured that Sam would try to get a hold of Callen, just to make sure that he wasn't spending the next two weeks alone. And as to the pots and pans routine, I thought of it as I was making dinner the other night and conducted a little of the music I was listening to with a frying pan. They are quite heavy and I have been hit on the head by one. They really hurt.


	8. The Shop

Ok. so a couple of reviewers have asked of a long chapter, and here it is. The next one won't be as long but the one after will be and will most likely be M rated as they get together, yeah! You have no idea how hard it is to wait to post it. Disclaimer see chapter 1.

* * *

"Where is your mother's shop?" Nell asked as she sat next to Sophia while Callen climbed into the back.

"Right in the middle of the city. Best place for it." she started the car as the others put on their seatbelts. "It'll take us a while to get there." She left the driveway and hit the main road. "So, what else do you want to do while you're here?" She looked at Nell sitting across from her, looking out at the scenery as she was asleep for some of it.

Nell noticed that Sophia was looking at her expectantly. "Who me? I have no idea. It was spur of the moment for me to come. My other plans fell through." Her voice dropped with sadness.

"Why don't you call them when we get to the shop?" Callen said from behind her, leaning forward and resting a hand on her shoulder. "It's only lunch time there now."

"Better yet, why not wait till Mum's found you a dress then you can send them a picture and taunt them about going to the biggest race in the country."

"They're in the hospital so that's mean. No I'll just tell them I'm going shopping." Nell went back to looking out over the landscape.

"I want to have a balloon ride over the city. I've seen it on tv and it looks pretty good. Maybe have a wine tasting trip." Callen leaned back into the chair and thought about the things that Mimi had told him about over the years of what there was to be done in Melbourne.

"Sounds good. I'll get you a couple of brochures to look at." The car ride continued in a comfortable silence, each in their own mind.

Callen watched as the open road closed in and turned into city streets the closer they got to the CBD. After a while Sophia pulled into a small side street and turned off the engine.

"The shop is around the next corner, there are no parks there." She headed off with Callen and Nell following behind.

"You ok Nell?" Callen asked as he walked beside her.

"Oh, yeah." She was thinking about her family.

"Call them." He said.

"Later." She walked a little faster, seeing that Sophia was about to turn the corner.

Callen laid a hand on her shoulder and said "Now. You miss them, I see that. It won't make any difference to me if you take a few minutes to talk to them." He tiled her head up to look at him while he spoke, letting her see that he did care and that he knew that her family was important to her.

"Ok, thanks." She said as she pulled out her phone and dialled. Callen stepped a couple of paces away to give her a little space.

Sophia rounded the corner and went to do a 'Ta-dah' moment, pointing to her mum's shop, only to find that neither Callen nor Nell were behind her. She paused a moment, then went back the way she had come. She found Nell on the phone and Callen watching her. She listened a bit, then as Nell went to finish talking she called out "Hey, you guys coming or what, there's clothes that need trying on."

Both Callen and Nell looked around startled as Sophia called out. "Coming." They both called out. Nell realising that her phone was still connected to her parents as she heard her mother asking who the male voice belonged to.

"The work mate I told you about, Love you and talk to you later, get better soon." Nell closed the phone and went over to Sophia, Callen falling into step next to her.

"They ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, they can go home tomorrow." She sounded happier than she had in the last couple of days.

"That's good to hear."

"Ta-dah" Sophia checked that they were with her this time.

"Cyclone Chit-Chat." Nell read the shop sign across the road from them. "Interesting name."

"Greg's idea." She said and headed off toward the shop leaving a dumbfounded Nell and a blushing Callen to follow in her wake.

"Yours?"

"She wrote and said that she was opening a dress shop and asked what to call it. I mentioned that she loved a chit chat, her words, and that she should have something to that effect. She wrote back a few weeks later and included a picture of her sign." He shrugged. While he was humbled that she had asked him to help her name it and then took his suggestion, it was a while ago and he had gotten used to it. Almost.

Nell shook her head. She was finding out a lot about Callen, things she was pretty sure that Hetty didn't know. They entered the shop and immediately, Sophia was called away. The place was packed with people, women mostly, all trying on dresses. They stood in the doorway for a moment until a man came over. It was Jason.

"Good morning, Greg, Miss Jones." He smiled at the awe on their faces "Yes, this is our busiest week, Melbourne Cup." He looked over at the scene of controlled chaos behind him. "Come, there's a quiet area in back for the VIP's. There's no one there today. Mimi reserved it for you."

"You have to have a reservation?" Nell was wondering just how much the dresses were here.

"Kind of. Sometimes we get movie stars or other celebrities shop here and they want a few moments to themselves, away from the cameras and things. Triple C was the first place to do it, others have copied it." he lead them to an area the size of her room Mimi's. It had a couple of screened off areas, a large lounge, TV, coffee table and a small area that held a cappuccino machine. It was painted in pale greens and blues, giving the impression of being under the water.

"Wow." It was the only thing that both Callen and Nell could say.

"Mimi shouldn't be too long. If you want to watch her while she's working, now's the best time, she didn't see you enter the shop." He led the way back and pulled the curtain aside a little so that they could see Mimi.

She was currently helping a lady decide if she wanted an orange split dress or a blue full length. The moment the woman made her decision on the blue, she whirled around to help Sophia with a gentleman looking at tux's. She went from one customer to the next, always moving, never staying still for long. Yet, they noticed that she spent the time talking to each one. Callen managed to catch a little of one conversation and noticed that it was about how the suite would match his partners dress and how well it fit him.

After several minutes she looked over at the VIP section, held up a finger and finished with her latest customer. She headed over to them after the man left the shop. "Well, that was exciting. See anything you'd like to try on?" She directed them back to the lounge area of the VIP room and made them a cup of coffee. She handed them the cups, then stood back and looked at the two of them for a moment. After a bit, she and Jason shared a look.

"What?" Callen asked as he caught the look his best friend and her husband shared over the rim of his cup. He wasn't sure he liked that look.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just going to have a bit of fun with the two of you. Here I was thinking that I would only have GeGe to dress, but now I get to match him to his beautiful friend." She was rubbing her hands together, a bit of a grin on her face that Callen could only describe as gleeful. She then turned to Jason and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and headed off.

"What did you tell him?" Nell had also caught the looks.

"To get a couple of things. Now, you GeGe, you can get away with having one suite, with several shirts and matching ties. But we have to dress Nell first and then match your outfit. So shoo." She waited till they had finished their drinks before chasing Callen out of the room. Clearly Mimi didn't want him to see what she had for Nell.

As he left, two men dressed in the same suites entered, carrying a bundle of dresses in sleeves so that he couldn't see them. After a moment and they didn't leave he was about to go in and make sure that Nell was alright when a hand touched his shoulder. He spun so fast that the person behind him nearly fell over.

"Whoa, easy mate. It's just me. Sorry Greg." Steve recovered and looked at the man he had grown up hearing stories about. He had seen the two men go in and figured out why Callen had been about to follow. "They're married mate. Nothing to fear." He saw Callen look at him and nodded to confirm it. "Mum wouldn't have let them in otherwise." He held out a hand, inviting Callen to follow him. "Want to do some sight-seeing? It'll take Mum a couple of hours to figure out what Nell looks best in." He could see that Callen still hesitated. "Dad'll be here, Greg. She'll be right mate." Finally Callen nodded and followed Steve out of the store.

"What did you say you did?" Callen asked after a couple of minutes. They were heading down the main street and he was looking around, watching, listening, absorbing the atmosphere of the city. It had a rushed feeling to it, but everyone was going about it in a relaxed kind of way.

"I work on a cattle station a few hours from here. We're about to bring in some of the cattle to mark some of the calves and wean off the larger ones."

Callen was intrigued. "What do you bring them in with?"

"A chopper brings them in from the outlying paddocks then we get them into the yards with horses. You ride?" He asked as he led the way to a small gift shop. "You want to get something for your friends?"

"Sure, though I have no idea what. I kind of ride. Haven't done it in a while. I don't know about Nell."

"Well, I'm sure that we can find some long yarder for you to ride."

"Some what?"

"When we retire a horse, it's called putting them in the long yard. There are a couple that are still good enough to stand at the gate as we bring the cattle in if you're still interested in coming out."

"Totally. I can't remember the last time I was on a ranch."

"Out here they're called stations."

"Got it." Callen looked at some of the gifts and found a letter opener for Hetty and a couple of stuffed native animals for Sam's kids.

After paying for his things, Steve asked if he wanted to get some lunch. Callen nodded and followed him to a small restaurant about two blocks away. "This place does take-away if you want to grab something for Nell.

He looked up at the menu board as they stood in line and picked a chicken salad for Nell then a roast meat sandwich for himself.

Steve nodded as he saw Greg get something for Nell then himself when they finally made it to the front of the line a few minutes later.

"I can tell you, when Mum left this morning, she was really looking forward to today." They took a table while they waited for their order to be put together. Steve had ordered sandwiches for the rest of his family.

"Why?"

"When you called her to say that you were coming she went a little crazy. Getting the room ready, organizing the VIP room and generally going over the top about everything. Then before you came down for dinner last night she realised that she had Nell to dress for the races as well as you and she really hit her stride." Their order arrived and they collected it and headed back to the shop.

"How do you mean?" Callen found Greg to be a straight talking, no nonsense kind of guy, _bloke_, he silently corrected himself.

"She grabbed a piece of paper and started to write down a list of dresses she wanted her to try on. I swear, there were at least thirty of them." He paused a second as they hailed a taxi to take them back to the shop. They had ended up several blocks away and it had been nearly three hours since they had left Cyclone Chit-Chat. Callen had stopped at every shop window and looked at everything. There was just so much to take in. It was so different to Los Angeles.

"You coming?" Callen asked.

"To the cup?" Steve looked over his shoulder at Greg, who was a little smaller than him. At Greg's nod he continued. "Absolutely. It's a public holiday here in Melbourne. Everything closes down. Well almost everything. There's plates in the VIP area if you want to eat there." He nodded toward the room where he could just make out his mother and a bit of blue. He smiled a little as he watched Greg turn and his face light up as he caught sight of Nell. Leaving him to it, Steve set off in search of his sister and father.

Callen headed toward the VIP room, still watching the small woman that had caught his attention. She was in a blue dress that hugged her in all the right places and showed off a lot more skin that Callen had ever seen her expose. She had her back to him and was talking to Mimi and an idea sprang into his mind. He managed to get over to her purse and took out her phone without her noticing. Mimi did of course and said nothing. She didn't make any move that she had seen him, but he was sure that she had. Nell was in front of mirror and Callen took a couple of photos before sending them off to her family along with the text 'See, having fun dress shopping. Get well soon and see you later. Love you.' He just managed to put the phone back in her bag when she noticed him.

"Callen!" she hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest. The dress dipped lower than she was use to and she didn't feel comfortable showing as much skin as she was. Especially in front of Callen.

"Steve and I got lunch, hungry?" he held up the bag. He noticed that the two men that had entered earlier were gone.

"Yeah, a little. I'll just change. Don't want to get anything on it." then before she could chicken out she turned back to him and asked "What do you think?" Now that Callen got a good look at it, he saw that it started a dark blue on one shoulder and finished in a slightly lighter shade of blue on the opposite corner at her knees.

"Stunning." He instantly said, meaning every syllable. "You should wear that tomorrow at the race."

Nell blushed a little at Callen's statement, then took refuge in the change room.

"Did I say something wrong?" Callen asked Mimi as Nell all but fled into the change room.

"No, GeGe, But I get the feeling that she doesn't show a lot of skin? She was pretty nervous around Ben and Tom so I had them leave." Mimi led the way over to the kitchenette.

"Yeah, at work she's always wearing a cardigan and tights under her skirt." He busied himself sorting out the food and drinks.

"Also I get the impression that she isn't use to comments, at least nice ones from men. Ones that don't have strings attached." She noticed Callen's head snap in her direction at that. "Tom and Ben were complimenting her on a couple of the other dresses and she looked rather uncomfortable. It was one of the reasons I had them leave."

"I didn't know that." He paused in his lunch preparations and looked toward the curtain that hid Nell. Granted there was a lot he didn't know about Nell, but he would have thought that she would have been showered with compliments growing up. She was beautiful, smart, funny in her own way; any man would have been a fool not to realise. Then he realised that that is probably what happened. He could picture the jocks at high school plying her compliments for no other reason than to get into bed with her. He hoped, no prayed, that she had not been hurt. Although, judging by the fact that she covered up as much as she did and her reaction to his compliments, she most likely had been. He gripped the counter top and slowly let out a breath. "Damn." He muttered. He was about to go over and ask if she was ok when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Mimi looking at him. Like he, she had managed to put two and two together and come up with the same conclusion.

"I don't think anything happened that she didn't want. The main reason I sent Tom and Ben out was because I was worried that she would throw a punch at them." She saw the look of surprise cross his face and continued. "After the first couple of dresses she started to ask them to stop, when they didn't, mainly because she really did look amazing, she suffered through a few more before one said she looked killer in the outfit she had on. She froze and I could see her hands bunch up. Another second and I reckon she would've KO'ed them both." Mimi could see that her words reached her friend. "Now, let's have lunch, you and Nell stay here, I'm going to see where that son of mine has gotten to with my lunch."

As Mimi left, Callen heard the curtain slide back and he turned to find Nell standing there in the jeans and long sleeve shirt she had put on that morning. Not wanting to embarrass her anymore then he quite possibly had, he held out her salad for her. "I got you chicken, I hope that's ok."

"Thanks Callen."

"You can call me G. if you want." He said sitting in one of the chairs. They were softer than they looked and he nearly lost his lunch as his hands flew up over his head as he sank into the cushions. He had in fact found out how soft they were when he took Nell's phone from her bag earlier and had pretended to try and get a smile from Nell. It worked as he heard a small giggle from Nell. "Glad you think it's funny." He grumbled good naturedly, a smile creeping onto his lips.

She sat next to him and thought about his suggestion to call him G. as she munched her meal. She knew that there were very few people that called him that. Sam being the obvious one, then there was Agent Gibbs in Washington. She had heard stories about how close the two of them were and knew that there was a pretty good chance that he called him that too. No one else at the OSP that she had heard anyway, called Callen G. and he had just said that it was ok for her to. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Once they got back to work, would the closeness that had crept up on them still be there?

"Can I call you Greg?" She asked, a little shy. She wasn't sure that the name was only for Mimi and her family.

Callen looked at her, his mouth half full of food, which he quickly and with some difficulty, swallowed. "Sure." He was surprised that she had asked. "Just not GeGe."

"Why, its cute." She couldn't help it, the look on his face as he said it was, interesting.

"That's Mimi's and Mimi's alone." He got up and cleaned his plate and left it to dry on the rack. "Do you know what Sam would do if he found out the name, not to mention Deeks."

"Ah. That's an idea." She stroked her chin with a finger as though she had every intention of telling them, even going as far as getting out her phone. Then she burst out in a fit of giggles at the sight of G.'s face. It was filled with horror as though he believed that she would do it. "Kidding, kidding." She held up her hands as he came over to her to take the phone. She suddenly stood as he got even closer and backed up. It turned into a quick game of catch-me-if-you-can as Callen tried to get Nell's phone from her and she trying to keep it out of his reach. It ended as he managed to get behind her He had his arms wrapped around her to get the phone when Mimi and Jason walked in.

"Now what's going on here?" Jason asked. He and Mimi had been alerted by several customers of Nell's shrieking laughter as Callen chased her. He could see the laughter in their eyes as they stopped fighting each other, him to get the phone, her to keep it away from him.

"Nothing." They both said at the same time. They looked at each other before dissolving into fits of laughter; both having forgotten what had led to the game.

Mimi and Jason watched as both Greg and Nell collapsed on the floor, trying and spectacularly failing to stop their laughter. After several minutes, Mimi took matters into her own hands and said one word, "Needles." As she had hoped, Greg stopped first, mostly. He managed to sit up, tears of merriment still glistening his eyes.

"Not funny, Mimi." He growled out after he managed to get his breath back from the laugh attack, and helped Nell to her feet. He brushed himself and Nell off then took her plate over to the sink.

"And?" Mimi tipped her head to one side.

"Still not funny."

Mimi poked her tongue out at him.

"Right, your turn Greg." Jason said, seeing that the two of them would not let the other have the final word.

"So Nell, what do you want to do while the men play dress up?" Mimi said as she led her away from the rooms. "While it won't take them as long as us, it will take a while."

"Um, coffee?"

"Sure. I know a great place." The two women grabbed their bags and headed off. After walking a couple of blocks, Mimi led Nell into a small shop.

As they entered, Nell received a message on her phone. She pulled it out of her bag and opened the text. _Glad to see you're having fun. Who's the hottie? Love you Mom. _Nell frowned, she hadn't sent a message since calling them earlier.

"Look at the photos on it." Mimi said suddenly, taking her place in the line.

Nell looked at her for a moment then opened the file that contained photos. She looked at the first couple then opened them to view them bigger. They were of her, in the blue dress that she had been wearing when she noticed Callen. He must have been there for several minutes because, in the background, she could see his reflection in the mirror, holding her phone.

"GeGe came in just after you stepped out of the change room. You had his back to him, so he grabbed a couple of pictures. I take it he sent them to your parents?"

"Yeah." She said quietly. She went back and found the text message he had sent. She realised that Callen hadn't seen that he had managed to get himself in the picture. Why had he done it? Then it came to her. Her family was worried about her, she was worried about them so Callen had sent the photos to let them know that she really was having time off and having fun.

"He cares about you Nell. More than you think." Mimi said suddenly from beside her. Nell jumped and almost knocked the coffees from Mimi's hands.

"Sorry." Nell said.

"All good. Nothing spilled." She led them over to a table in the back of the shop, next to an exit and both women sat on opposite sides and faced the front door. "You ok that he sent them something"? she could see the look on Nell's face and thought that she might be a little mad at him.

"Huh? Oh yeah, just wasn't expecting him to care that much." She added milk and sugar and swirled the liquid around before taking a sip. "Hey, this is pretty good." Her face lit up as she drank.

"My friend owns this place and grows her own beans. And as for Greg, like I said he cares for you a great deal."

"He tell you that?"

"It took him several letters, but yeah." She looked at the woman that had changed her best friend's life. No, not just changed it, saved it. Nell didn't know just how much she meant to Greg. And if he didn't tell her before they left, she would.

"What did he say?" Nell didn't look up from her cup.

"That's for him to tell you."

Nell simply nodded, lost in thought. After a few minutes she looked up and asked "How did you and Jason meet?"

"Ah, I was wondering when you would ask that." Mimi looked over at Nell and saw that she wanted to know how, compare it to her and Callen and see if they could work. "You know, how me and Jason met is different to how the two of you met."

"I know, I just want to know." Nell lent back in her chair as Mimi started talking.

"Well, I had just finished a business and fashion degree at Uni and graduated with flying colours. GeGe sent me a leather appointment case which I still use. My parents are pretty rich, so they lent me some money to open a fashion house. Melbourne didn't have all that many, and certainly none where I wanted to be. He tell you that he gave me the idea for the name?" At Nell's nod, she continued. "Well, while it was being built, I put out ads for staff. Not many people responded, after all who wants a graduate for a boss. I hired three people to see how things would go.

The shop had been open for a couple of months when the race carnival started so we got very busy, people coming in and trying out the new shop. Jason walked in a month before the Cup at ten am and asked for a job. At the time, I was a little tied up helping customers. There were only four of us, so I took his resume and told him I would look over it. I never got a chance to. He came back the next day, at the same time, and the next and the next. After the third time, I spoke to him for a few minutes. He was nice, in his forties and had fashion experience. I'm not sure why I didn't hire him right off the bat. That was our routine for the next three weeks, he would come in at ten am and take me out to morning tea. We would talk about the shop, what new designers were coming out and what was the latest release. He was kind to me in ways that other's never had been. He offered to pay for every meal, but would let me if I wanted to.

When he found out I couldn't fly and that none of the other staff had passports, he said that he had been to several fashion shows in the past decade and that he had contacts in other fashion houses around the world. That was it, I had to have him before anyone else. I had made enquiries and found that he had been in contact with a couple of my rivals. And I was falling for him. He was handsome, smart and was the son of a major designer. I didn't find that out till after I married him and met his parents.

I hired him on and after a couple of years he was my partner in the business. Three years later we were in the shop celebrating making it five years when he dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him. He had sought and gained the approval of my parents. Sure, he was older, but they could see that he cared for me. I still believe that's it's because of him that Triple C is the success it is." She took a sip of her now cold coffee "And that's that."

"Wow. How come you can't fly?" the statement surprised Nell. Having something like the shop she did would require the need to go overseas.

"Medical condition. I can't scuba dive either." Mimi said a little sad.

"Sorry."

"That's ok, it just means that we get to spend lot of time on the water in our yacht."

"Nice!" Nell grinned as Mimi received a text from Jason to say that he and Callen were finished.

"Well the men have finished, you want to head back to the house?"

"Um, yeah. I take it we've got a bid day tomorrow?" Nell asked as they left the shop.

"Yep, We'll have to get up early to get ready. The breakfast starts at eight." She hailed a cap and they climbed in.

Callen and Nell managed to somehow get their outfits into Sophia's car without the other seeing them. Each was pleased with what they had chosen and they wanted it to be a surprise for the other.

Later that night after dinner, they found themselves in Nell's room again. Callen was reading on the couch while Nell was looking at the photos that he had sent to her family. "Why did you take these?" She asked suddenly, holding up the phone.

Callen looked a little sheepish as he answered, "You looked relaxed and yourself trying it on, I thought that they might like to know that you really were having a good time and not lying to them." Then he looked into her eyes and continued "And you really looked stunning. I meant what I said, you should wear it to the race tomorrow." He saw her duck her head at the compliments. "I'm sorry if I upset you, but it's true, you looked amazing in that dress." After a few seconds, he heard her try and stifle a noise. He put the paper down, went over to her and sat next to her. "Nell, you ok?" his words had meant to cheer her up.

"Yeah, thank you G."

"No, you're not. Did I say or do something wrong?" He reached out and took one of her small hands in his.

"No. It's not you." She let out a small laugh at the cliché.

"What then." He brushed a lock of hair from her face.

She sighed and pulled her hand back from his. "I'm just not use to men paying me compliments and not wanting anything in return for them." She looked down at her hands in her lap.

"What happened?" His voice took on a defensive tone and Nell knew that if she told him about what had happened in the week leading up to graduating first high school then collage, he would make them pay.

"Nothing. I took courses and defended myself." She looked over at him "Really, nothing. Look, I cover up so that there is nothing for anyone to see. If no one can see my legs or arms, then they can't compliment me."

"And if I said that you still look stunning and amazing?" Callen was looking at his own hands, not wanting to see if she threw the compliment back in his face. "Not to mention cute?"

Nell looked over at Callen, stunned at his boldness. "Then I'd say thank you." She leant over and placed a feather soft kiss on his cheek, leaving her lips there a moment longer than necessary. As she drew back, Callen cupped her cheek.

"I mean it Nell, you look wonderful, no matter what you wear." He was looking in her eyes and this time, she didn't look away.

"Thank you." She finally managed. He kissed her quickly on the forehead and wrapped his arms around her. She responded by encircling his waist and together they lay down and fell into a deep sleep, neither waking until Mimi knocked on the door the following morning.

* * *

So some of this was in responce to a question from StoryAficiondo9712. Thank you for asking as I hadn't planned on writting it. I hope you enjoy this.


	9. The Race and Dinner

The next morning, Mimi got them up early because the race breakfast started at eight. She took Nell into her room while Callen dressed in his.

"Wow!" was all Calen could say at Nell's dress. It was the blue one she had been wearing when he came across her in the VIP room.

"I know you're a man of few words, but seriously, that's it, wow?" Nell said, even as she drank in the sight of him in a suite. The tie and shirt matched her dress exactly.

"I can't think of anything else." He knew is voice sounded awed, but he didn't care, he really couldn't think of anything else.

"I had already chosen a different one for the race." She said. She was a little surprised at the look of lust in his eyes. But as quickly as she saw it, it was gone.

The race breakfast was uneventful, as in no dramas. Nell and G. met some of Mimi and Jason's friends, who were surprised to finally meet the man she had been talking about for most of her life. They met the jockeys of the horses that were going to be in the Cup and were surprised at some of the names of the horses running. The breakfast wrapped up around eleven am, giving everyone plenty of time to get ready for the race.

The Melbourne race trace was packed as Nell and Mimi pulled up in their limo at the VIP entrance about one o'clock, the cup started at three. They had travelled separate from the men as Mimi didn't want Greg to see Nell's dress until they were at the track. She was pretty sure if they had seen each other at the house, they would never have left. They met up with them in the VIP tent that had a Latin theme to it.

Callen looked around for Nell, while he wasn't worried that Mimi would let anything happen to her, he found that he missed her. He caught sight of her distinctive hair colour and made his way over but stopped when he saw her dress. His mouth dropped open and he had trouble closing it. If he could only think of wow that morning, he didn't have any idea what to say now. He finally managed to make his way to her and said "You look way better than stunning." As he wrapped his arms around her waist. He had on a tie that didn't match but complimented her dress. The dress was a deep green that emphasized her eyes and hair. The fabric was soft and it flowed around her like water. It was strapless and had a diagonal cut that started mid-thigh and finished at mini skirt height.

"Thank you, but I feel a little awkward. I've never shown this much skin." She looked a little embarrassed, as she had her arms over her shoulders, or it could have been the weather because there were storm clouds brewing and the temperature had dropped. He shrugged his jacket off and placed it over her shoulders. He was pleased to see that it went down over the high part of the dress and covered her legs a little. She sighed and leant back against him. "Thanks G."

"That's ok. You want to place a bet?" Callen had been looked over at the tables and remembering the names of some the runners, he wanted to have a go.

"Sure, some of the names sound interesting." She stayed in front of Callen as he steered toward the nearest table. They stood looking at the names for a moment, neither having any idea about what they were looking at. Then they both pulled out some money.

Callen chose Eleanor's Folly, Comedic Colin and Fantom Nites.

Nell picked Les the Larrikin, Laws Of Gravity and Brother's Rights.

When they showed the other what they had picked, the both said at the same time "Figures." They made their way back to Mimi and Jason at the finish line rail.

Mimi spotted them as they came toward her; she elbowed Jason and pointed out that Greg had dropped his jacket over Nell's shoulders. Then they had an hour and a half to wait for the race. They mingled and spoke with some of the people they had met that morning as well as others. They bumped into Sophia and Steven who introduced them to Mimi's parents who were thrilled to meet their daughter's penpal of thirty years and made dinner plans for the following week.

Callen never left Nell's side. He kept an arm around her waist and she held his hand the whole time. They often looked at each other as the afternoon wore on. As they spoke to others, they used Nell's story that she used with her family, that she was a TV news editor and he was a security guard at the building. Nobody asked questions, no one was looking at them oddly and nothing went wrong. Callen had never been so relaxed. Sure he looked around often, it was ingrained in him, but it was out of habit, not from fear. He noticed Nell would look at the walls of the tent before her eyes would fall onto him. He let her do it a couple of times before he took matters into his own hands.

Nell was having the time of her life. Callen had his arm around her waist and she held his hand. She found that they had the same taste in music as he would occasionally tap his hand against her hip in time to a Latin song that played. The tent was decorated wonderfully and she often found herself looking at the decorations, when she wasn't caught up in his captivating blue eyes. After the third or fourth time of looking at him under the guise of looking at the tent, he surprised her by suddenly dropping a kiss onto her cheek. She was stunned and heard the chuckle that vibrated his body as he looked at her face. She knew she was blushing, but didn't care. G. Callen had just kissed her.

The announcer called the seventh race of the day. The famous Melbourne Cup. The racing event on anyone's calendar, whether you were into horses or not. It was quite a line up this year and none of the horse had pulled out at the last minute. It was a full house. He did a small spiel on each horse and its rider as they made their way to the starting line. He made a mental note to call the horse in gate seven by a shorter name. He came up with Laws of G. Nodding, he noted it down, never once losing track of what was happening on the grounds.

Mimi went to find Greg and Nell and found them looking at each other intently. She felt Jason slide up behind her. "He got tired of her looking at him and kissed her." He said.

"Lips?"

"Cheek."

"Ah, well, it's a start." She tipped her head to the side as she heard the seventh race called and continued "And speaking of starts. Hey you two, want to see history?" she called loudly to them.

Callen and Nell were looking at each other, wondering who was going to make the next move when Mimi called out. They jumped and looked over at her. "The Cup is about to start. Want to watch?"

They nodded and followed, each a little disappointed that she had interrupted them. They found a place to stand near the finishing line and a hush fell over the track as the announcer said that all the horses were in their chutes. Then they watched as a gun went off and the gates flew open. Nell noticed that Callen flinched slightly and felt his hand go behind his back for a weapon that wasn't there. Then all hell broke loose as the horses raced. They got caught up yelling, cheering and waving wildly with the rest of them, each yelling for the horses they had picked. Neither noticed that they were jumping up and down together, Callen's arm never leaving Nell. It was three minutes of total frenzied chaos, and neither had ever experienced the like of it before.

"And as they some around the final turn now, coming down the straight, it's Moonbeams in the lead, followed by Les the Larrikin and Comedic Colin. Then its Laws of G, Brother's Rights, and Fantom Nites with Soundbox and Eleanor's Folly right behind them. And Comedic Colin takes the lead with two hundred metres to go. Comedic Colin and Les the Larrikin are neck and neck, its Colin, no Les, no Ohh and it's going to be a photo finish between Les the Larrikin and Comedic Colin. With Laws of Gravity and Nell's Folly followed by Brother's Rights, Moonbeam, Soundbox, Fantom Nites…" the announcer's voice continued to call out the names of the other horses in the order they finished in.

Mimi watched as Greg and Nell calmed down after the race. They looked at each other with total joy in their eyes. They had at some point wrapped their arms around each other. One of their horses had won but neither cared. They were standing still now, looking into the other's eyes. Just as Jason came up to her to ask if they were going to head out shortly, she watched as Nell reached up at the same time as Greg lent down and they kissed.

Nell found herself encased in Greg's arms at the end of the race and turned to face him. She looked up and saw the same look on his face that she surely had on hers. She suddenly realised that she thought of Callen as Greg and found that she liked it. She had never known anyone to treat her like he had. He knew that she was independent and only helped her when it was clear she couldn't do something. He was aware that his compliments made her a little awkward, acknowledged the fact, but made sure that she knew he meant them. She reached up to bring him down to her level only to find that he was already on the way and then his lips were on hers.

Callen stopped listening to the race caller when he found that he had wrapped his arms around Nell's waist at some point during the race. He didn't even remember doing it. He looked down at the smaller woman in front of him. He had never felt this way about anyone. He loved that she didn't pressure him for details about anything, just taking the answers he gave. And she knew what he did for a living, so he never had to lie to her about it. That was the main reason he had never settled down. He knew now was the time, before they got interrupted again. He lent down, found Nell's hands reaching up to his head, and placed his lips on hers.

His lips touched hers, softly, teasingly before he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. She moaned and he suddenly remembered where they were. He slowly pulled away from her lip, leaving slight marks on them as the blood rushed back in. He sighed the same time as Nell and they smiled before opening their eyes, both having closed them as their lips touched. Looking at each other again they noticed that the tent had gotten quiet. They looked around and saw that many people had left.

"The rain's about to start. So unless you want to get wet, I suggest that we leave for the hotel." Mimi said from over near the doorway. The look on her face told them that she had seen everything. Nodding and leaving them to follow, she led the way back to the car.

There were still a few races left to run, but with the main event done, many people were looking to get away before the rain started. Callen and Nell followed her slowly, each wrapped up in their thoughts as to what had happened. Nell was tucked in under Callen's shoulder as they walked when the heavens opened. She grabbed his jacket from around her shoulders and threw it over them both. Callen caught it and held it above their heads as they ran to the car, the rain that got them cooling their desires.

"Well that was exciting. What did you think?" Mimi asked her friends when they finally made it to the car. She, Jason and the twins could see the lust in their eyes and knew it was only a matter of time before they acted on it. She hoped that they wouldn't until after the dinner. She had something planned for the two of them and it wouldn't have the same effect if they did.

"I have never experienced anything like it before. The noise, the anticipation the adrenalin that isn't caused by … our work." Nell managed to catch herself before she said 'bad guys'. She leant against Greg while he draped an arm over her shoulders. "It was all so much fun. Who won by the way?" She remembered that it had been a photo finish.

"Les the Larrikin."

"Hey cool, I won." She pulled out her ticket and showed it to Mimi.

"Congrats, you won about four hundred dollars. You can go to a TAB and collect it tomorrow." She said as she read the ticket and did a quick calculation.

"Guess you're paying for dinner then." Callen said, chuckling at the look of shock on her face.

"Speaking of dinner, you are both coming to the gathering tonight. There's a three course meal and music." Mimi really needed them to come. She knew that Greg danced but she wasn't sure about Nell. From Greg's letters she knew that Nell was into South American happenings as he put it, and she hoped that it also extended to the dancing. It was the reason she had managed to persuade Nell to pick the dress she had. She noticed that they looked at each other, the lust back in their eyes. "You have all day tomorrow to have fun. There are no major races and I have to be at the shop for the Ladies race on Thursday. And it'll be worth your while to come." She relaxed when they nodded. _Disaster averted._ She thought.

They arrived at the hotel and the men helped their partners out of the car. They had several hours until they had to get ready so each couple went their separate ways. Nell and Callen headed to their rooms, both tired from the excitement. It was a happy tired though, not caused by bad guys, guns or death. They held each other close until they got to their doors, on opposite sides of the hallway. Each was reluctant to let the other go.

"We might as well have a nap until it's time to get ready." Nell said at last.

"Might not be a good idea to be in the same room though." Callen replied.

"Why?" she had tipped her head to one side thinking about it.

She got her answer as Greg leant down and kissed her again. This time, when he grabbed her lip, they didn't break away. He pushed her against her door and when she gasped he deepened the kiss, his tongue finding hers. One of his hands found its way into her hair while the other slid down her leg. She moaned in pleasure as he lifted it over his hip, slid his hand back up and stepped closer to her. He broke off from her lips and started up her jaw, kissing his way to her ear lobe. She shuddered with desire and melted into him more the higher up he went. As his teeth took a hold of her lobe and tugged, she would have collapsed from longing if he hadn't been holding her. She moaned when he pulled away from her a second time in as many hours and put her leg down. Their breathing was a little on the fast side and they both took a moment to get it back, their foreheads resting on the other.

"Because we'd never leave." He whispered. It was the most sexiest voice she had ever heard. "And I think that Mimi would be a little put out if we didn't make it. She really wants to show us off to her friends."

"You really like her don't you?" She looked into his blue eyes, only seeing a sliver of the colour as his pupils had expanded from the rush of the kiss.

"I thought it was just her letters, but finding out that she really is that way? She is my best friend and the reason I came. She is the only friend I have from my childhood." He looked down at her and continued "And as much as I want you right now," he placed a quick kiss on her lips "I want to find out what she has planned for us. You get the feeling that she was almost begging us to come tonight?"

Finding out that Mimi was his only friend from his younger days made Nell realise that there were few if any people that could claim that title. She knew that he had planned to come alone and that inviting her had been a last minute thing. And had she heard right, he wanted her? "I got that impression as well and you did come here to meet her. And as they say, good things come to those who wait." She still had one hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to her and kissed him quickly before opening the door to her room and heading in.

After her shower, she felt a little better, but found that suddenly being in a room without Greg, she was lonely. She had never been lonely before, _but then again_ she thought. She had never been held the same way he had held her. It had only been two days, but she couldn't get the feeling of comfort she felt when she was with him out of her.

And he had kissed her! Kissed her! TWICE! And it wasn't some peck on the cheek either. Both times had been filled with passion and longing. The second time had been borderline sexual. Like all the flirting they had been doing for the last couple of years had decided to hit them all at once. So far, he had done all the first moves, so when the opportunity came later that night, she would make one.

Callen stood there for a minute in front of Nell's closed door before going to his own room. He was in need of a long cold shower. He really shouldn't have kissed her like that, but he needed to find out if she was as interested in him as he was in her. And judging by the way she responded, it was a distinct possibility. He grabbed something to wear and turned on the tap. After returning to the bed, he found that he couldn't relax. Remembering how he had been sleeping the last few nights, he called Nell's room to see if she had finished.

"Hey Nell."

"G.? Everything OK?" She felt her heart beat just a little faster.

"Yeah, just can't relax."

"So talking to me is going to help?" she remembered his words after the kiss.

"Probably not, but you're the only one I want to talk to right now."

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything." He paused for a moment then said "Tell me about your family."

They spent the next couple of hours talking until Mimi knocked on their doors and asked if they wanted a hand getting ready for the night.

The race dinner was being held in the hotel function room, a vast room that took up over half the floor space of the ground floor. It was decked out with the same Latin theme as the tent at the races, but here the decorators weren't limited by space so they had gone wild. The men had arrived first again and were waiting for their partners to join them. As Steve and Sophia had no dates, they accompanied each other. Callen was waiting for Nell to arrive near the door. He was dressed in another black tux with a red shirt and a tie that had reds and oranges on it. Having been matching for the breakfast, complimentary for the race, Callen had no idea what colour to look for, so he settled to look out for her distinctive red hair. She came in next to Mimi and Callen's heart stopped.

"I think the dress worked." Mimi whispered to Nell as she pointed Greg out to her. They could see his face. His mouth had dropped again and his eyes looked as though they were going to pop out of his head. Nell blushed and looked down at the dress.

It was in keeping with the theme of the night. It had Latin colours, reds and oranges, low cut in the front and showed her whole back. There was a criss-cross pattern over the back that ended with the ties forming a bow at the base. Her hair had been curled and now sat in ringlets. The dress stopped just above her ankles.

Callen's heart going a million miles an hour. He felt Jason push him forward slightly and say "If you don't take her hand and lead her to her seat, I'm sure that there are plenty of others who would love to." Which prompted him to finally walk over to her.

He said something in a foreign language as he took her hand which sounded like Russian. "What was that?" she asked him as he held her hands and looked her over. She heard his answer but had to strain to hear it as his voice had dropped until it was barely a whisper.

"It loses a bit in translation but it means something along the lines of 'the most beautiful woman on Earth'" He honestly couldn't think of anything in English to say and the Russian phrase had simply fallen from his lips of its own accord. He drank in the sight of Nell, in a dress that he was sure that Hetty would kill to get her hands on. His brain had simply stopped working as he ran his thumb across her cheek.

Nell, in turn soaked up the sight that Greg was in the suit. She saw the tie and realised that Mimi had managed to get one to match the dress. She knew that he looked good any suit, but tonight he was drop dead gorgeous. She had heard his answer and was honoured that she had managed to stun him so much that he had used another language to compliment her. They were both so lost in each other that neither noticed when everyone else started to take their seats until Mimi tapped Nell's shoulders, making them both jump.

The meal was three courses of Latin cuisine, small portions so that there was enough room for the next. After the meal, while the tables were cleared away to create a dance floor, Callen and Nell stood with Mimi and Jason talking to their friends. The music started up, Latin songs filling the air and after a while, Nell went in search of a drink and found a punch that was quite good. Filling two glasses, she was heading back when a woman stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"So, you're the one that took my dress?" She was taller than Nell, had blonde hair and a rather large chest.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Nell went to pass her, but the woman blocked her again, grabbing her arm, causing Nell to spill some of the drinks.

"Uh, and you're a bloody yank too. I saw that dress last week and the bloody woman who owned the shop said that it looked too short on me."

"I simply didn't want to say that you looked like a slut in it." Mimi's voice came from behind the woman. She stepped out and stood next to Nell. "It was much too short for you to be able to pull off."

"So some yank gets it instead?" She jerked Nell's arm hard enough that she loses her grip on the glass. It falls to the ground and breaks, sending shards of glass and punch everywhere. The woman shrieks and jumps back out of the way. "You bitch! These are $300 shoes!" She slapped Nell across the face and was about to do it again when she felt a hand grab her wrist in a vice like grip.

"I have never hit a woman in anger before. Do not make yourself the first." The voice was low, menacing, and quiet. Nell had heard Greg use that voice before on suspects. She had fallen to the floor when the woman had hit her and looked up to find him holding the woman's wrist in one hand, the other held out to her to help her to her feet. She took his hand as he continued speaking, not taking his eyes off Nell. "I suggest you go home before you make a bigger fool out of yourself." He let her arm go and turned his back to her to make sure that Nell was alright.

The woman stared at the man that had grabbed her. "Do you know who I am?"

"They don't, but I do. Get out of here before I make a call and have you banned you from every dress shop in the city." Mimi was now facing the woman as Greg wrapped his arms around Nell's shoulders and placed himself between her and the woman in front of Mimi.

"Like you could!"

"I think rumours of declined credit cards and bouncing checks will pretty much ensure that. Now get!" Mimi crossed her arms. The woman looked shocked at her, stepped back a little, then left. Mimi faced her friends and could see the look of confusion of their faces. "I have a lot of influence in the fashion industry here. Many of the other dress shop owners are close friends. It will only take one call and within a day, her cards and cheques won't be accepted anywhere." She could see that Nell was shaking and figured that she needed a moment's peace. "Nell, why don't you and I freshen up?"

Nell nodded and let Mimi take her hand. She felt Greg hold onto her for a moment before letting her go. She was lead to a bathroom that had couches in it. The two women sat on one and Nell took the damp cloth Mimi handed to her. She placed it against the cheek that the woman had hit. "Why did she do that?" she sighed as the cool cloth relieved the heat caused by the slap.

"Because she is rich and thinks that she should have everything. I told her that the dress was too short for her and managed to convince her that a different one looked better. Not something that a great many people have been able to do." Mimi got another cloth and draped it over the arm that had been gripped by the woman.

Nell nodded, then gasped at the state the bottom hem of the dress was in. "Oh my god, Mimi, I'm so sorry." Nell took the cloth and tried to get some of the stains out of the dress.

"Hey, don't worry. It'll wash out. And besides, this dress had a special feature." Seeing Nell look at her she continued. "Stand up and tug at the knees."

Nell obeyed and was shocked when part of the dress came away in her hands. What came off started half way down her thighs and took the front section off, leaving a ruffeled salsa style dress that was high in the front and dropped to the ground at the back. She watched as Mimi came over, took a piece from the section and twirled it into a cloth rose that she then pinned in Nell's hair. The rest of the section Mimi held onto.

"Now, do you know any Latin dance?"

"Yes, my parents love all styles of dance so they taught them to us. Why?"

"Because Greg's favourite is the Rumba. And it's next on the play list." She held her hand out to the younger woman.

"How do you know that?" Taking Mimi's hand, she let her lead her out of the ornate bathroom.

"I challenged him. Now, why don't you show Greg why you can pull this dress off." Mimi stepped away as Greg came over.

Callen had been watching the direction in which the two women had disappeared. When he saw Nell's red hair he made his way over, only to stop. She was still wearing the same dress, but it had changed; the front section of the skirt was shorter, revealing a lot more leg then he had ever seen Nell show.

Nell remembered her resolve from earlier that day, that she would make the first move when the opportunity presented itself. And as the first notes from a song that a rumba could be danced to started, she brushed past him, letting her hand trail down his arm, her eyes inviting him to follow her. She felt him clasp at her hand as it was about to leave him and she let him spin her onto the floor, in perfect time to the music.

Callen was stunned as Nell brushed past him, her eyes asking him to follow her. He heard the music and realised what Mimi had pulled off. He managed to grab her fingers before they left his hand and spun her out to the floor. He stepped in time to the music, following Nell, his eyes never leaving hers. As the dance progressed, their passion increased. The constant teasing done by Nell was slowly driving him crazy. They moved closer until they were moving as one. The pace increased as the song drew to a close and at the final note, Callen had one hand tangled in her hair, the other holding her leg against his hip. He was breathing a little fast, whether it was from the dance or the need for her, he didn't know, nor did he care. He noticed that Nell had pulled his head down a little.

She had one hand on his shoulder, the other had brought his head down to hers. She looked up into his eyes as she got her breath back and saw the lust that had been in them all afternoon. She could see that he wanted her. She wanted him, wanted him badly. She pulled him closer and kissed him. She felt him drop her leg and bring both hands to her cheeks. She could feel his tongue on her lips and this time, she pulled back "I want you." She managed to say. The world had shrunk till it was just the two of them. They didn't notice that many people had cleared the floor as they danced. That now they weren't dancing anymore, the room had filled with people and talk again.

Callen looked a little surprised at her words. He nodded and wrapped his arms around her hips and led her from the room. It wasn't until they reached the lifts did he part from her. Their breathing had risen again with their heart rates. He called not one but two lifts. "If we went in the same one I'm pretty sure that they would kick us out." He placed one last kiss on her lips before backing out of the lift he lead her into and taking the other. Once they met back up on their floor, he didn't resume the kiss, simply led her to her room and asked her to unlock it. "If I do anything that you're uncomfortable with, or if I hurt you, you have a safe place to go to." He said when she looked at him oddly. She nodded and let him led her to his room.

* * *

Author's Note 1: Here we go. I know I glossed over some bits and pieces, but I have never been in Melbourne during race week, being in Queensland and all, so I have no idea of what goes on. I hope it's ok though.

Author's Note 2:I know that this year's winner was Greenmoon, and Moonbeams is my way of recognising that, but the horses that came first and second are in honour of two of my uncles that passed away in October and November, Les and Colin.

Author's Note 3: As promised, major smut coming in the next chapter. It will be rated M so if you can't read it or don't like that type, I will be posting the chapter that follows it at the same time so you can skip it.

Author's Note 4: If there is anyone out there that can let me know of a Russian word or phrase simmilar to what Callen says to Nell, I would love to know, as I plan on using it again.


	10. The Exploration

Author's Note: First off, sooo sorry this took so long to update.

Secondly, I know that I said that the next chapter would be smut, but I didn't want to change the rating on this story, so that chapter can be found under the name 'Their first time' on my profile if you want to read it. It might be a good idea if you do as some things mentioned here might not make sense otherwise.

Finally, I will be getting back to Callen and Barry shortly. Anyone have something they would like see Barry do to Callen or vice versa?

Disclaimer: See ch 1

Anyway, on with the story!

The next morning, they awoke within seconds of one another. They were still in the same position they had been in when they fell asleep, him curled around her.

"Morning, Greg." Nell said as she felt him move slightly. She went to follow him, only to gasp at the pain that flared up in her thighs.

Callen stroked her cheek, "Morning, Nell. You feeling ok?" He figured that after last night she would be sore. He went to the bathroom and ran the water in the bath until it was warm, adding a bubble mix that smelled of honey and almonds. Returning to the bed, he found that Nell hadn't moved.

"How can something feel so good, yet hurt so much at the same time?" she moaned as he lifted her from the bed.

"Where do you hurt?"

"Not from you. But my thighs are killing me." She heard the worry in his voice and knew that he thought he had injured her. She could sense, that despite she had told him the night before that he hadn't hurt her, he was still anxious.

He chuckled, "You didn't need to hold onto me that tight, I wasn't going anywhere." He lowered her into the water that was now filled with bubbles. He knelt next to her and raised a sudd covered hand to her face, pushing back a few stray locks that had obscured her face. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"You." Nell reached up and kissed him. She wanted him again. She felt him pull back, a smile on his lips.

"Aside from me, Мой эльф." Callen laughed quietly at her answer, not entirely surprised. He turned the taps off and looked back at her.

"What did you say?" she had heard his words and wished, not for the first time that she could speak Russian.

"I said 'my pixie'." He hoped that she wasn't offended that he had given her the nickname.

"Say it again?" she slid a hand up his chest.

"Мой эльф." He felt her hand stop behind his head.

"Мой эльф, huh." She pulled him down for a kiss before he could comprehend that she had managed to copy his words. He kissed her deeply in return then pulled back suddenly as he realised what she had said.

"You heard it twice and copied it exactly?" The disbelief clear in his voice.

"My mother always said that I had an ear for languages." The water was working as her thigh muscles were not as sore as before. She sat up and attempted to pull Callen in with her.

He smirked and stepped back, laughing at the pout on her face. "Nice try mой эльф, but you'll have to be sneakier then that. You relax, I'll organise something for breakfast." He grabbed a towel from the rack and headed back out of the room, wrapping it around his waist.

Nell relaxed back into the bath, thinking that she was the luckiest woman in the world. She had found someone that genuinely cared for her. He was her first partner, and she hoped her only partner. His concern that he had hurt her the night before showed clearly, even after she had told him that he hadn't. She thought back to what her sisters had told her.

They had said to listen to the way he asked if he was her first. If he asked in a tone that said he had figured out he was and his face showed a smugness to it, then all he was interested in was being her first. If he seemed surprised, then he might be into having something more. The test would come the next morning. If he was worried that he had hurt her, if he showed that he cared by taking care of her as she recovered, depending on the intensity of the night before, then he was defiantly into something more happening between them.

Callen matched everything that they said about The One. She grabbed a net sponge and added a body scrub that smelled of honey milk. The water was working wonders on her thighs, back, all her muscles. She would have to invest in a bath at her place when they got back. She was about to condition her hair when Callen walked back in. He still had the towel around his hips, but she could see that he'd had a shower. "Does this room have a second bathroom?" she asked when he sat behind her on the edge of the tub and took the bottle of conditioner from her hands.

"No, I borrowed yours." He poured some of the liquid onto his hands.

"Why?" She turned to look at him.

"Because, if I'd been here, one of us would have ended up with the other, and I want to explore the city a little today." He turned her back around and started to massage the conditioner into her hair.

Nell was about to say something but it turned into a moan as Callen began to massage her head. She leaned back into his hands as he worked. Now she really wanted a bath so that he could do that every day. How the hell did he know to do that? She had been to hair dressers that gave her a massage when they washed her hair, but they were nothing compared to what Callen was giving her now. She was in heaven.

"Night classes." She must have managed to say it.

"Night classes?" she repeated.

"I don't sleep much, at least until this week. And you can only practice a language or pull apart a toaster for so long before you get bored. Gibbs dropped a bunch of pamphlets on my desk one day when I was working with him. I had been staying with him while I looked for a place when I first started with NCIS. He got me into them." His hands had made their way to her shoulders and had started to give her the best shoulder massage she had ever had. If the bath had been any longer, she would have slipped down. Her eyes had long ago closed, but they snapped open when she felt his hands leave her shoulders. "Don't stop."

"Unless you want to walk around Melbourne with soapy hair, I have to wash it out." He went and found a small bowl and gently and carefully poured water over her hair, placing one hand on her forehead to keep the soapy water from going into her eyes. He continued to massage the conditioner out.

"How many?" she asked.

"What?" the question caught him off guard.

"How many classes have you graduated from?"

"Uh, seven, eight? I'm not too sure, I have three that I'm working on at the moment. Some take longer than others, depending on what they are about."

"And the massage one?" she was astounded that Callen wouldn't know how many he had done.

"Finished it in five months, the fastest one ever." He seemed quite pleased with himself at that.

"How long on average?" he had finished rinsing her hair by now and had wrapped a towel around her locks. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and lift her out of the bath.

"Eight to eighteen months, depending on what it is and if I have to go under cover." He got another towel and rubbed at the moisture that still clung to her.

"Can you show me more?" She really wanted him do what he did to her shoulders to her whole body.

"Tonight." He whispered over her shoulder as a knock sounded at his door. He grabbed a couple of robes from the hook at the door and threw one over Nell, the other over himself. He went to the door and opened it to allow the valet who brought their breakfast in. "Thanks." He handed a $20 note to the man just as he handed over an envelope to Callen.

"Your friends left this at the front desk when they left this morning."

"Thank you." He said again, taking the letter. Shutting the door after the man, he opened the letter. It was written on the hotel stationary in Mimi's handwriting.

_Hey Lovebirds, _

_Hope you two had fun last night. We headed home this morning. Nick is on standby if you need him. He will take you where-ever you need to go. If you're still up for the ladies races tomorrow, give me a call. You'll need to come back home for your outfits. Otherwise, I'll leave it up to you. I've booked both rooms for another night if you want. Have fun._

_Mimi_

Callen chuckled and headed back to Nell. "Breakfast is served." He lead the way over to the table where the valet had set up the covered dishes. He pulled the lids off in a flourish revealing pancakes covered in whipped cream, maple syrup and sprinkles. Nell giggled at the sight.

"Why sprinkles?" she repeated his question to her several days earlier.

"Because, if I start kissing you, I'm not going to be able to stop." He said, leaning over her shoulder and whispering in her ear. He stood and pulled out a chair for her, then took the chair opposite. They ate their meals in a comfortable silence until Nell leaned over and brushed a few wayward sprinkles from his cheek. He turned and kissed her palm before she could pull it back. He followed her hand until it was too far for him to stay with it. He moaned as it slid from his face.

"I thought you wouldn't be able to stop?" Nell said as she picked up her fork again.

Callen smiled "That's because you kept moving it. And I want to see Melbourne." He finished his plate quickly and went to get dressed, Nell right behind him.

"Will Mimi and the others be joining us?" She liked the energetic woman and her family, but wanted a little time with Greg on her own. She grabbed her bag that had found its way into his room and pulled out a top and skirt.

"No, they're back at the house, but the driver Nick is downstairs for us." He got dressed in the main room, while Nell used the bathroom. "I was thinking that we could do some shopping, get things for the others back home. Christmas is just around the corner."

"You don't mind if the others figure out that we are here together?" Nell came back into the room wearing a white blouse and a pale blue skirt that ended just below her knees. She saw that Greg had jeans and a shirt that matched her skirt. "You look through my bag?" She tipped her head to one side as Greg turned to her, a look of confusion on his face until he took in what she had on.

"No? Oh, this just so happens to be my favourite shirt." He had a slight smirk on his face. As it was, he saw a small hint of blue as she headed into the bathroom and changed his mind about the white shirt he had been planning on wearing. Mimi had sent him the shirt many years ago as a gift. He didn't answer her question about the others. He didn't want them to know until he had figured it out himself but if Nell wanted them to know, he would. He went over to her and wrapped her in his arms, just managing to not rip her clothes from her body and kissed her. "You ready to head out?"

"Yep, just got to grab my purse." They headed down to the lobby and saw Nicky waiting for them.

"Where to Sir, Ma'am?" Nicky asked as the two reached him. He noticed that the man's hand didn't leave her hip as they walked.

"Well, we don't know Melbourne, and with Christmas just around the corner, we were thinking of getting some gifts, so I guess the best place to fill a stocking." Callen said.

"Right, Flinders Street it is. Wait here while I get the car."

The next several hours were spent wandering around Melbourne's CBD. Nell bought gifts for all her family, while Callen got a few things for the others back home.

Nicky helped them carry everything to the car. As he said good-bye to them as they headed off on another walk, he took a moment to rest against the hood of the car. He had suggested a place for lunch and they insisted on shouting him as a thank you. He would meet them there in about half an hour, as it would take them that long to get there. He watched them as they walked away from him.

Greg shorted his strides while she lengthened hers to match each other. He had an arm wrapped around her shoulder, while Nell had her hand on his hip. Their height difference didn't affect their ability to hold onto one another as they walked, neither losing the other as they strolled in perfect unison. Nicky had people watched a lot over the years, waiting for Mimi and her family at one shindig or another, so he could see a great couple in the making. With a lot of couples he had seen, the man's strides would be too long for his partner, her having to almost jog to keep up. The way Callen would often lean down to whisper something to Nell, making her laugh; or to listen to something she had to say showed that he wanted to hear her. _Yes, _he thought _A perfect couple._ He watched as they turned a corner before getting in the car and heading to the restaurant for lunch.

After a wonderful lunch, Nell and Callen wandered down another shop filled street. Suddenly Nell left Callen's side and raced up the street "Oh my God, Greg they have a Swarovski shop! We have to check it out." She ducked into a door way and disappeared from his sight.

Callen quickly followed her into a shop filled with the most amazing jewellery he had ever seen. And having worked with Hetty for so long, that was saying something. He spotted Nell easily, her nose almost pressed against a glass cabinet filled with animals and birds made from gemstones and crystal. He nearly laughed as he heard Nell sigh as she looked at the ornaments.

"Aren't they beautiful?" she reached out and traced a quintuplet of birds sitting on a log. One was a female from its brown feathers, the other was a dark blue with a white chest, the other three were chicks, sitting between the two. The tag read that they were Fairy Wrens. A shop assistant came over and told them about the birds and materials they were made from.

They spent a half hour wandering around the shop, but Nell kept getting drawn to the Fairy Wrens. The only thing that stopped her from getting it was the price. Callen got a brooch for Hetty. They left with Nell throwing another look at the wrens.

They spent the rest of the afternoon after that wandering around the CBD, talking, playing games in an arcade they stumbled across, exploring. Callen found that Nell was as competitive at games as everything she put her mind to, while Nell discovered that Callen hated first person shooter games. He didn't see the point in holding a gun that didn't have some type of recoil.

The afternoon grew to night, they grabbed fish and chips and ate it at the table of the little shop beside the river, Callen feeding Nell small pieces of fish while she held chips for him to take from her fingers; Nell giggling when she nibbled his fingers, him smirking when his teeth found hers. Their eyes rarely leaving the other's. After the meal, they laid on the grass at the river's edge against each other and relaxed. It had been a long but happy day, just the two of them not having to worry about anything.

They watched the sky fill with stars, listening to the night insects come out. "You ready to head back to the hotel?" Callen asked, breaking the silence that had fallen with the night.

"Yeah, I'm beat." Nell simply turned to curl closer to Callen. She giggled as she felt Callen reach into her back pocket and retrieve her phone. She was the sensible one, bringing hers from home. Nick, the driver, and been programed into it so Callen dialled and told him where they were. They headed back to the hotel and at their rooms, paused.

Callen wasn't sure what to do at that moment. If he were undercover, he'd have no problem deciding what to do. But he told Nell that he wanted to try a relationship with her, and in his mind, that meant letting her decide what she wanted to do. "What do you want to do?" he asked as he placed his hands on her hips after depositing their shopping in the appropriate rooms.

Nell could tell that Callen was a little unsure. The look on his face as he looked into her eyes was different to what she saw at the river. Little by little, she was learning what each gaze meant. So she took the step. She stepped closer, tugged at a button on his shirt until it came free and said "I want to explore." She then pushed him toward his door and stepped back to her own. "I'll be with you in 20." She then opened the door behind her and slipped inside.

Callen stood sill for a moment as his mind comprehended what Nell had just said. His brain finally catching up with his hearing, he moved quickly into his room and tided away the days shopping. He was just getting out of the shower when Nell knocked on his door. Contemplating weather he should put a shirt on or not, he decided that boxers would do. Nell had been startled last night by the scars, but she hadn't scared off by them. If she wanted to know about them, he would tell her as much as he could. He called out for her to come in and that he was just finishing up in the bathroom. He dumped the towel he was using into a washing basket and entered the bedroom, only to stop and stare at Nell, standing next to his bed.

Nell hurried to the bags she had bought and pulled out one of the new outfits she had bought that day. Removing all the tags, she had a shower and thought about how to ask about the scars. She knew that he had a few, but some of the ones she saw last night weren't in his files. After finishing in the shower, she went and knocked on his door. When he said to come in, she went and stood next to the bed. She stood in a sexy pose to show off the outfit. It was a blue that matched his eyes when they were filled with happiness.

Nell heard footsteps and looked toward them. Greg came out, still slightly damp from the shower, the moisture glistening in the light; making him look extraordinary. He was only in boxers, showing off his six-pack and scars. She saw his jaw drop in surprise. When he didn't do anything further she realised that she had made him speechless and frozen to the spot. She walked over to him, placed a hand over the appendix scar that she had found last night and stroked it. He moved then, looking down at it, placing a hand on her arm, stilling her movements.

"How can you see them and still …?" he couldn't say _love me_ just in case she didn't feel the same way he did.

"Because they are part of you." She placed her other hand on his face and rubbed her thumb along his cheek, making him close his eyes and lean into her hand. "You may not know your past, but they tell the story of who you _are_." She tugged on his boxers slightly, pulling him toward the bed. "Tell me about them." She wanted him inside her again, but the look on his face, fear, relief, contentment that she wasn't scared of them or him; made her changed her mind. Nell wanted to know about them, and maybe thru them, she could get a better insight into who G. Callen was.

She reached the edge of the bed and scooted across to let him lay next to her. When he was stretched out next to her, she propped herself up on her elbow and traced the appendectomy scar with a finger. "There a story to this one?"

"Why do you want to know?" She couldn't quite make-out the sound she heard in his voice.

"Like I said, they are a part of you, and I want to know all of you, scars and all. I know that you won't be able to tell me where or how you got them, but, even a little will help both of us to learn a bit about each other."

Callen felt Nell splay her hand out, covering the whole scar, warming the spot. It felt good; like most of the scars, it always felt colder than the rest of his skin to him. He felt her start to move her hand but placed one of his over it, holding it in place. "Not much to tell really." He said, looking at her face, looking for some sign that she didn't want to know, like all the others. When all he saw was honesty and curiosity he continued.

"You know that I was in fosters homes a lot." It was a statement and when he saw her nod "I was at my last foster home. I hadn't been feeling well the past few days, but you don't advertise the fact, it opens the door to beatings from the others." He looked down at their hands, rubbing his thumb on the back of hers while she rubbed the old wound. "I was at football training when I got blindsided. One of my team mates tackled me to the ground. I remember a burst of pain then nothing. I woke up in hospital three days later. Apparently my appendix had been getting worse and the tackle was the straw that broke the camels back."

"What did the foster parents do?" Nell wanted to know if they had taken him back after that. She knew friends that had been in the system, if they got sick, many had been dumped at the hospital and a social worker picked them up. Not many foster parents wanted to look after sick kids.

"They were one of the few that really looked after me. They took me back in, despite the fact that I was ageing out in three months. They got me back on my feet fast. They were the ones that convinced me to join the military, the father was an ex-marine."

"I thought there was no such thing as an _ex_-marine?" Nell said, having heard more than one suspect say the line.

"True!" Callen let out a small chuckle. "I still keep in touch with them, a letter at Christmas, birthdays."

Nell saw that Callen wasn't going to say any more about that mark, so she moved her hand from under his and tracked down the next wound. The next hour was spent with her finding a mark and him telling her when and what caused the cut, scratch, hole. With so many of them being sealed behind so many firewalls and buried so deeply in the black books, he couldn't tell her where or the circumstances that led to them.

Nell racked her nails on his chest at one point and watched in amusement as he arched under her hand, exposing the underside of his chin, and another scar. She kept one finger on a scar that he had told her about and tapped the new one she found. She was surprised at the look of pure delight and happiness that filled his eyes and face. The only other one that had brought a change on his face was the one on his wrist that he had received when his sister Amy was pushing him in a little red cart and it overturned. "Good memory?"

"One of the few good times I had in foster care." His voice had a tone in it that she could only describe as happy.

"Do tell." She settled next to him, realising that it could be a long one by the look of his eyes closing and his breathing slowing.

"I got it when I was with the Rostov's."

"The one family that you were with the longest?" Nell had heard about the story from reading the reports relating to the Kealson case. She felt his head nod and him take a breath to tell her the story.

Author's Note: I hope this was ok. Please let me know what you think.


	11. The Girls and the Tree

SOOOO Sorry for the massive delay. I've been madly busy and I wanted to write a few chapters at once before I posted them. I hope this is ok and thanks to all those who are still following this.

* * *

Fourteen year old Callen was sitting at the table in the family room with his homework spread around him. After getting a glass of milk and a few cookies that Mrs Rostov had made that morning, he sat down and got stuck into the assignment for math. He reached for a cookie and was surprised that there were still some there. Alina had the ability to sneak them off the plate without him seeing her. He paused for a moment, thinking why they weren't all gone until he remembered that he had walked her to her friends place a couple of hours earlier for a sleepover. A smile graced his face as he remembered the smile on Alina's face when he called out "Вы готовый, моя маленькая сестра?" (You ready, my little sister?) just before they left the house.

The first day he was there, Alina had crashed into him, wrapping her arms around one of his legs and said "Вы будете моим старшим братом?" (Will you be my big brother?) then she had run off, squealing in laughter. His new foster parents wouldn't tell him what she said, so a week spent looking through books and asking a teacher what the words meant had gotten him the answer. When he found out, he was surprised. He learned the phrase he had used before after another week of books and questions. Her parents were waiting for him after he had dropped her off. They were pleased that he had taken the time to not only find out what she had said, but also learn some himself. They told him that no other children they had fostered had even bothered to ask and that they were proud of him.

No one had ever said that they were proud of him before. So he was determined to make sure that he didn't disappoint them. He knew that he was behind in his school work, but a talk with several teachers had gotten him the necessary work to get back up to speed. He was not going to let them down. Callen had been working hard for several hours when a frenzied pounding shocked him. It was coming from the door and he could hear a very young voice calling for help. He raced to the door, thinking that it was Alina. Wrenching it open, he found her friend Tina, the one she was having a sleepover with, on the doorstep, tears running down her face.

Callen knelt down in front of the girl, who he could see was very dirty. Her shirt was stained and her tiny shorts were ripped in several places. "What happened, are you alright, where's Alina?" the questions fell from his mouth quickly.

Tina calmed just enough to tell him. "We were playing in the yard when the boys from next door said they were going to climb the tree. We followed them to see how high they could go, then Alina said that we should try. I didn't want to, but helped Alina get up and now she can't come down." The tears started up again and she put her head in her hands.

Callen knew the tree she was talking about. It was at the edge of the estate and it was the biggest tree in the area. He had heard Alina's parents tell her not to climb it often. He had done it on his second day there and managed to get a lot higher than anyone else.

He had only been with the family for a month but knew that Alina liked to climb and was not afraid of heights, until she had to climb down. He had gotten her off the top of the cupboard in the living room twice that week. He guessed that Alina had climbed until she couldn't go any further or she had looked down and saw how high she was. He hoped that it was the latter because the branches at the top most likely would not support his weight, which was the reason he had stopped last time.

Grabbing his coat, keys and picking Tina up, he locked up and with the upset girl on his hip, he jogged toward the tree. The Rostov's were out for the night and he figured that Alina had told Tina to get him rather than Tina's parents and get into trouble. Telling the girl to stay where he put her and wrapping her in his jacket, he got closer and called out to Alina. The wind was picking up and this late in the year, the temperature dropped fast after dark. He didn't know how long the girl had been up there but judging by the fact that the parents hadn't started a search party yet meant that the girls hadn't been gone long.

Callen jumped and caught the lowest branch and pulled himself up. He then started a slow methodical way of climbing that he had found worked and was the reason that he could climb better than a lot of other people. Three to one, if a hand was looking for a hold, the other hand and both feet were on solid footing. He looked for the little girl that had quickly become like a sister to him every few feet. He past his mark on the trunk of the tree and started to move with extra caution. Every person that climbed the tree would carve their name into it when they couldn't go any higher and his was a good six feet above the nearest one. He finally spotted Alina and called out to her.

"Alina?"

"Callen, help!" she was holding on for dear life to the trunk. The wind had picked up and with the thinner branches at the top they were swaying a lot. She was still a couple of feet from his reach but he dare not go any higher in case a branch broke. As it was he could hear them creaking under his feet.

"Alina, you're going to have to climb down to me I can't go any higher." He reached out to her as far as he could without losing his grip. He saw her shake her head and grip the tree tighter. "Alina, I won't let anything happen, just climb down to the next branch and I will get you, ok? Do you trust me?" he saw her nod and move her foot from the branch to the one below, followed by the other then both hands. She reached down to him and he grasped her hand, pulling her onto his shoulder then guiding her onto his back.

"You cold?" he asked her as she didn't have gloves or her jacket on. He felt her nod and took off his gloves, putting her hands in them. They were way too big but they would help to keep her hands warm until he could get her home. He started down the tree when he had a thought. He pulled out the knife that Mr Rostov had given him the week before when they went on a fishing trip. "You think that anyone else will get this high?" he put a bit of laughter in his voice to help her cope with her fear.

"Never!" she slapped the tree next to Callen's face and he carved their names. He felt her snuggle her head against his neck and putting the pocket knife away, started down again. At one point a strong gust of wind hit the tree and caused Callen to lose his grip for a second. Alina shot out a hand to steady herself and grabbed a branch. She held onto it as Callen went lower and he didn't notice until they went further than the branch could and she let it go. It whipped under his chin to return to its former place, cutting the skin and causing him to lose his grip again. Callen felt under his chin and his hand came away red with blood. Wondering how he would explain that to his foster parents, he continued down.

When he got to the ground he collected Tina, wrapping both girls in his jacket and went to Tina's house. "Probably a good idea not to tell your parents about the tree girls." He said as he walked.

"What will we tell them?" Tina asked. She had her arm draped over Alina's to help her get warm as they walked. For a four year old, she was a smart kid.

"You tell them nothing, I'll say that you came to my door saying that Alina had gotten stuck. I was closer the your parents." As it was, when he arrived a few minutes later Tina's parents were at their front gate about to go looking for the wayward girls.

"Callen! Thank God you found them. Where were they?" the dad asked as he swept his daughter into his arms.

Callen told them what he had said he would and that he had found Alina stuck in a bush that was near an old cubby house that was known as a lovers lane. The mother invited him in as she lead the way to the house after being unable to get Alina to let go of Callen's leg. He picked the girl up and followed them in. After half an hour that included a shower and dinner for the girls and a hot drink for Callen, the girls were put bed. The parents thanked him for finding them and he headed back to the Rostov's.

He let himself in, had a quick shower a bite to eat and went to bed. It was only 9 o'clock but the last hour had drained him. The next morning he was woken by the soft voice of Mrs Rostov.

"G? you awake?" he heard the door open a little more as she came into the room.

"Yeah." He rolled over and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his face. As he ran his hand over his face and neck, he gasped as he passed over the scratch from the branch that Alina had grabbed.

"You ok? What happened?" Mrs Rostov came to the edge of the bed and looked at him, worry on her face. She had learned that Callen didn't open up easily, and didn't like it when people came to close to him unless he said it was ok.

"Yeah, I must have gotten it last night finding Alina." He remembered at the last minute the half-truth he had told Tina's parents. "How bad is it?" he hadn't really looked at it the night before. He tilted his head back for Mrs Rostov to look at. He felt her come closer and automatically tensed up when she touched his neck to get a better look.

"It looks ok but I would like to clean it up a bit more if that's ok? Tina's parents told us what happened. Thank you for finding her." At Callen's nod she went to the bathroom for the first aid kit with him behind her. He leant against the sink as she did a better job than he did the night before of cleaning the wound. "It'll scar but nobody won't be able to see it unless they're under your chin."

"Thank you."

"No thank you. If you hadn't found them I don't know what we'd have done."

Callen looked down at Nell and told her that both families took him out to dinner on separate nights to thank him properly. He and the girls spent a lot of time together after that and as far as he knew, neither set of parents ever found out about the tree.

"What happened to the tree, did someone cut it down eventually?"

"The day I moved in a couple of years ago I noticed a commotion at the end of the street where it was. They had just cut it down because it was heavily damaged in a storm a month ago and several people had come to get the sections that they had carved into." Callen stroked Nell's face as he told the story. "I waited until they had left and approached the new owners of the land that the tree had been on to get the pieces that I had carved my name into as well as the one with Alina's."

"What did you do with them?" she was starting to look for the next scar and story.

"With Gibbs' help, I turned the one with just my name on it into a table outside. Alina's and mine is a small table just inside the door." He was so caught up in looking into her face that he didn't realise that she was heading for another scar until she touched one next to a bullet wound he had gotten on the 5th of May.

Nell had spotted the wound earlier but Callen had managed to divert her hand from it, now while he was distracted, she touched it. She wasn't expecting the reaction from him that she got. He jerked back and got off the bed. She saw a look of fear flash across his face before he turned it away from her and he went and stood next to a window. Nell could see him running a hand over the old mark, his head hanging as he did. He lent against the frame and stood still, except for the hand. Nell went over and stood next to him, leaning on the opposite side. "I'm sorry Greg, bad memory?" she didn't touch him in case he closed off from her completely.

"Yeah." He let a small breath out. "It's just that I hadn't thought about that one in a long time and telling you the story of Alina and the tree brought it all back."

"Is it the reason you left them?" She watched as he nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to drag up bad memories."

"That mark will always make me react when someone I care about touches it. Every time I see it in the mirror, it reminds me of the fact that I will always do something to screw up a perfectly good thing."

"What happened?" she stepped closer and placed a hand on his arm, noticing the very slight flinch as she did.

He shook his head and stepped back from her. "Not tonight Nell. I don't want to talk about it right now." He went over to the bed and dropped onto it, waiting for Nell to leave. She had to, after closing off from her like he did. He was surprised when he felt the bed dip beside him as Nell lay next to him and looked over at her.

She reached over and touched the mark again, the flinch not going unnoticed as she did. "Will you tell me eventually?" she flattened her hand over it. She had noticed that when she did that on the other ones, his breathing settled and he looked calmer. She looked into his eyes and saw the tears there. She slid closer to him and wrapped her other arm behind his back, pulling him closer to her. She tucked her head under his chin and waited.

Callen was silent for a moment as he thought about her words. He knew that he would eventually tell her, but only when they had gotten to know one another a lot better. "In time." He said simply. He felt Nell nod against his chest and he slid an arm around her waist, the two of them falling asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

A/N And because I have been really slack, I'm posting a second chapter.


End file.
